


D4 Garfield and the Secret of the School Library!

by wsdsrdbw4096



Series: Dimension Four [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1960s, Anachronistic, Bilingual Character(s), Gen, Multilingual Character, Origin Story, Original Character(s), Original Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-09-18 02:36:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9362375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wsdsrdbw4096/pseuds/wsdsrdbw4096
Summary: First entry of my Garfield Stephenson Wu series as part of my Dimension Four series.A series of thefts at school led Garfield Stephenson Wu to investigate his first mystery. Disclaimer at the first chapter. Please read and review!





	1. Background and first day of school

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The Garfield mentioned in my stories, as well as that for this dimension, is not the title character of the comic strip Garfield. Rather, he's my Original Character Garfield Stephenson Wu, whose namesake is, in fact, the title character of the comic strip in question.
> 
> In addition, all real-life locations mentioned or took place in the story are fictionalized.

**Author's Note: Here's the very first installment of my Garfield Stephenson Wu series as part of my Dimension Four stories.**

**As you may have noticed, his namesake is the title character of the comic strip _Garfield_.**

**Therefore, I'm going to make the disclaimer that in these stories, the Garfield mentioned and featured in the stories is Garfield Stephenson Wu, NOT Garfield the Cat from the comic strip of the same name.**

**In addition, the world timeline for this dimension is anachronistic in nature, so for example, by the 1960s, many of the historical empires that existed prior to the First World War (The German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, the Korean Empire, the Russian Empire and various kingdoms) are still active.**

**Similarly** **, Canada, particularly its capital Ottawa, have some differences in comparison to real-life history. For instance, Ottawa still has its streetcars running in the 1960s (In real-life, sadly, the last streetcar terminated services in Ottawa in 1959), and Union Station is still active as a railway station currently (The year this story takes place in is 1968; Sadly in real-life, that's two years after Ottawa Union Station was closed down and replaced by the Central Station located in Ottawa East).**

**For readers who understand Chinese: 這個虛構世界裡:國共內戰沒有爆發，所以中華民國依舊治理大陸地區，也是全球最大的民主和福利國家。另外，臺灣在經歷日本的治理下後於1970年代期間逐漸獨立，另外琉球群島也在那個年代逐漸脫離日本獨立。**

**大韓帝國在這個世界裡沒有在1910年被納入日本，而東亞地區情緒是非常的穩定；日本、中國和韓國關係親密，這世界的二次大戰跟現實的二次大戰不同。**

**這世界裡的東亞國家:蒙古共和國、中華民國、大韓帝國、大日本帝國(包含當時1960年代的臺灣自治領和琉球自治領)、當時隸屬大英帝國的香港自治領和葡屬澳門。全部都是靠左行駛。**

**This story also contains dialogue in Chinese, which will be accompanied by translations.**

**Another disclaimer:** **All events and characters presented in this story are entirely FICTIONAL, while all real-life locations are FICTIONALIZED. None of the events presented in this story have any connection to real-life figures or locations. This disclaimer APPLIES to all of my stories.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Background and first day of school

_7:30, September 3, 1968_

The alarm clock sitting on the short cupboard right beside fifteen-year old Garfield Stephenson Wu's bed rang at 7:30, just as he had set the night before.

Garfield groaned as the wind-up mechanical clock rang loudly beside his bed, but eventually, he placed his hand on the clock to shut it off before yawning and stretching.

After sitting up on his bed, Garfield put on his slippers and then stretched one more time before getting out of his bed and went through his usual morning routine.

His clothes were hanging in the nearby closet, and after he returned to his bedroom, he immediately changed into his favourite attire of a green polo shirt and a pair of casual cream-white pants with a belt before proceeding to the dining room of his house.

His mother Melissa was already in the kitchen making coffee and the water boiler was on the stove whistling loudly, while his father Gordon sat at the dining room table listening intently to the nearby radio news.

"早安，媽媽和爸爸。" (Morning, Mom and Dad.) Garfield spoke as he grabbed his cup and poured himself a cup of water.

"早，廣慶。" (Morning, Gwang-Ching.) His father replied, referring to his Chinese name, as Garfield begin placing two slices of bread into the toaster and started munching on an apple.

A few minutes later, a few footsteps came from the stairs, and then down came his twelve-year old younger brother David, who the family and his friends commonly nicknamed as "Dave", and afterwards the ten-year old twins Emma and Diana.

Together, the family of six sat together and ate breakfast while listening to the radio playing some Beatles music.

Eventually, after finishing his breakfast and packing his lunch, Garfield raced back up the stairs to brush his teeth and do his business in the washroom, then return to his bedroom to grab his flat cap, put on his trademark green-gold watch, grab his school bag and put on his glasses.

He then went back downstairs to put on his shoes before calling out, "我去上課了!" (I'm off to school!)

"好。" (Sure.) His mother's voice can be heard.

"Have fun." His father added.

Garfield nodded as if his parents were nearby watching him before opening the front door and headed out.

It was a warm, late-summer morning in Ottawa South, which is where the Wus lived, as Garfield walked down the sidewalk. His block of the neighbourhood is located just across a major road from the new Carleton University campus that was opened almost ten years ago.

Truth be told, Garfield and his family are actually familiar to the neighbourhood in spite of only living there for the past two months over the summer.

Garfield Stephenson Wu (Chinese name: 吳廣慶) was born on June 23, 1953 in Ottawa, District of Carleton, Canada in the Civic Hospital, and he had grew up in the neighbourhood, during which his mother had given birth to David, Emma and Diana and he attended kindergarten and started taking part in piano lessons.

At the time he was born, his father Gordon (Chinese name: 吳景源) was in his final years of master's studies in law and political science in Ottawa and worked in the Japanese Embassy's Taiwan Affairs sector.

When he was six in 1959, the family moved back to Taiwan as Gordon was offered to teach at an then-new international university in a small town named Puli (埔里).

The family settled down in the small town, where Garfield spent the first half of his childhood, during which he began attending school and started taking up violin lessons while continuing his piano lessons.

Later when Garfield was nine in 1962, the family moved to Taipei (臺北) when Gordon got a job transfer: Teaching law and political science in the university he attended and graduated from years ago before military service and eventually international exchange to Canada in 1947.

It was that international exchange that introduced Gordon to Canada and he made several friends, including a middle-aged couple who will eventually witness Garfield's birth in 1953.

That middle-aged couple were Garfield Thompson and Arlene Kelly, who had no children of their own but had took in many university students in the past, including Gordon, who they came to view as a son of their own.

Garfield Thompson worked as a train operator for the Canadian Pacific Railway and was frequently out of town, while Arlene Kelly worked as a secretary in the Canadian Army headquarters.

It was Gordon who decided to name his first-born son after the train operator, and during his stay with the Thompsons, he became familiar with Ottawa and acquainted with the Thompsons' family and relatives.

Anyways, over the course of his growing up in Taiwan, Garfield became fluent in Taiwanese Hokkien, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese, in addition to the brief level of English introduced to him during kindergarten and the English classes in school.

After Garfield graduated from elementary school in 1965, a week after turning twelve years old, Gordon received an offer for a two-year exchange to Canada, in which he will be teaching in Toronto during that two years.

Gordon and his wife Melissa debated on the offer, and eventually the family decided to move back to Canada.

Arriving in late-August, the family decided to settle in a small apartment in Scarborough, one of the thirteen municipalities, including the "core" City of Toronto, that composed Metropolitan Toronto.

As the family settled in Scarborough, Garfield and his siblings were enrolled in the nearby public schools. It was during that time that Garfield also joined the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, a youth organization that promotes interest in aviation and joining the Royal Canadian Air Force.

He also made plenty of friends in school, and it was a sad feeling for him when his father's exchange term was ending in the early summer of 1967.

The year that Canada celebrates the centennial of Confederation.

It was Gordon and Melissa that decided that the family should move back to Ottawa after some discussion, with Gordon returning to Taiwan to continue his work.

The day the family decided to move back to Ottawa was June 30, 1967, and they had informed the Thompsons of their return.

It was Garfield Thompson who picked them up at Ottawa Union Station after the family got off the train from Toronto, and the family was invited to stay at the Thompsons' place in the interim while Gordon and Melissa searches for an apartment to rent.

One thing worth mentioning was that Garfield has a huge passion in trains and anything transportation-related. As a young boy, he will often drag his parents to the nearby streetcar terminal to watch the streetcars and buses go by. His parents will also take him to downtown at times so he can watch the trains pulling in and out of Union Station and he enjoyed watching airplanes taking off, landing and taxiing during air trips when waiting for their flights at the airports.

Most of his toys were buses, tractor trailers and trains, and his drawings typically consists of buses, trams and trains, and he also enjoyed collected model trains, mainly in the N-scale.

He also had the pleasure of taking a ride on the then-brand new Shinkansen in Japan when he accompanied his father to a conference in Tokyo in the winter of 1965, and as a souvenir, he bought a N-scale model of the 12-car bullet train.

Anyways, eventually, the family rented a small house in the Alta Vista neighbourhood and Garfield was subsequently enrolled in Hillcrest High School for the 1967-1968 school year while David, Emma and Diana were enrolled in the nearby public school.

It was also during his ninth grade school year did Garfield's transfer to an Ottawa-based Royal Canadian Air Cadet squadron from his old squadron in Scarborough was approved. His new squadron is based in RCAF Station Uplands, which is located in Gloucester South near the new Ottawa Uplands Airport.

The family's stay in their house didn't last long. In the spring of 1968, Melissa, who by then was now working in the Ogilvy's department store branch in the nearby Billings Bridge Plaza, bought a house in Ottawa South just a few blocks from where the Thompsons lived.

As a result of the purchase, the family moved back to Ottawa South in the summer after Garfield completed ninth grade and the kids transferred to different schools.

David, Diana and Emma to Hopewell Avenue Public School and Garfield to Glebe Collegiate Institute.

And that's how Garfield Stephenson Wu was walking northbound down Bronson Avenue at 8:07 in the morning, about to cross the bridge over the Rideau Canal, en route to his new high school.

Garfield was feeling anxious as he walked along the major road. Watching a streetcar speeding by, he was thinking what kind of interesting people will he meet and befriend in Glebe.

Those thoughts continued to cloud his mind as he approaches the school building.

* * *

**What awaits Garfield (廣慶) as he arrives in his new school?**

**Stay tuned, and please read and review!**


	2. The first day at school

Chapter 2: The first day at school

_8:20_

Garfield arrived at the front steps of Glebe Collegiate Institute and prepared to take off his flat cap as he entered the front doors. On his way to the front main hallway, he stopped by a newspaper rack and saw the three stacks of newspapers.

Two were English newspapers, the _Ottawa Journal_ and the _Ottawa Citizen_ , and the third was a French newspaper, _Le Droit_. He swiftly picked up a copy of each of the three newspapers before making his way to the front hallway.

From his school bag, he took out a flat, plaque-like plastic tablet that contained the layout of the high school. Pinpointing his current location, he made his way to the nearby stairwell, headed downstairs and arrived in the cafeteria in the basement.

The place was crowded with students as they read the bulletins displaying each of the students' homerooms for the first day of school.

Being in tenth grade, Garfield made his way to the sophomores section and walked to the far side bordering the juniors' section, given the fact that the names are arranged alphabetically through the students' surnames. With his surname of "Wu", Garfield knew that he would be in the far end of the section.

After finding his name and homeroom number, Garfield left the cafeteria and made a left turn before finding the stairs.

His homeroom is located on the top floor, which means he was quite out of breath after reaching the top of the stairs.

Consulting his map and pinpointing his current location, Garfield saw that he has to walk through the narrow hallway right in front of him, during which he saw the entrance to a physics classroom of sorts, based on what he saw inside the classroom in question through the open door.

Eventually, after reaching the south end of the narrow hallway, Garfield turned right, walked through the double doors and eventually arrived outside his homeroom.

For some reason, he felt that the school seemed...haunted as he walked through that narrow hallway and before walking through the double doors that eventually led him to his homeroom.

The central stairwell also looked haunted, though he attributed those characteristics of looking haunted to the lack of windows in the stairwell and at the east end of the school building.

Anyways, Garfield decided to settle and sat by the window facing north across the door leading to his homeroom, and as he did so, he took out the three newspapers he had picked up earlier at the main entrance and started reading them, starting first with the _Ottawa Journal_.

As he scanned through the pages, Garfield glanced at his golden watch to check the time. He still had fifteen minutes before the bell is to ring and signal the students that they should be heading for their classrooms.

Garfield read through the pages, had a chuckle when he read the editorial cartoon and then put down the paper and picked up the _Ottawa Citizen_.

While doing so, he looked around and spotted a group of other students gathering at the nearby lockers already.

He was surprised by how the group were already utilizing the lockers across the hallway from where he was seated at. _Perhaps they already got their school timetable and locker numbers during the summer._

Speaking of summer, he remembered fully how he had spent the entire month of July and the first half of August in summer training camp for cadets. His camp is located in RCAF Station Bagotville, which is located in a small town several miles north of Quebec City, from which it takes six hours to drive to get to the small town.

Garfield had plenty of fun memories in summer training camp and made a lot of friends. It was also during his time there that he became fluent in French.

Among the group of students were a trio of boys with short black hair and wearing glasses, and he noticed one of them to be particularly close with a blonde-haired girl.

The bigger surprise, though, will be his spotting of two other students within the group who seemed particularly close.

One of them was a boy with shaggy-style black hair and he appeared to be of South Asian descent. _Maybe he's from India or Pakistan_ , Garfield thought to himself.

The other student close to the boy in question was a girl with chest-long black hair, and she appeared to be of East Asian descent. _She's probably from Korea or Japan or maybe China,_ Garfield thought before noting the different ethnicities of the couple he was glancing at.

 _I wonder if their parents approve of their relationship_. Garfield thought to himself. After all, the society norms of the day made it rather weird for a cross-ethnic relationship.

 _Well, as long as their relationship is pure and honourable and their parents are okay with it, I don't see why that should be my business_. Garfield thought before shrugging and carried on reading the remaining two newspapers.

One thing worth noting was that during his time in Toronto and in Hillcrest High for grade nine, he had also started studying French and has pretty much become literate in the language and can write, though he never actually carried on in a conversation in the language until his time in Bagotville in the past summer.

Garfield did know that across the Ottawa River, over in Hull, Quebec, most of the people speak French, as with people living in the province of Quebec.

He was reading the editorial pages of _Le Droit_ when the bell rang, Swiftly, he put down the paper, placed it in his school bag and got up before walking across the hallway into the classroom.

As he walked into the classroom, the loudspeakers in the hallways started playing _Penny Lane,_ a rock song written and performed by the Beatles.

Rocking and nodding his head with the music, Garfield made his way into the classroom.

After he took a seat near the front of the classroom, he noticed that two of the guys with glasses he saw earlier also entering the classroom.

Garfield didn't say a word as he took out his pencil case and binder loaded with notebook paper before looking around.

The teacher appeared to be middle-aged, perhaps in her 40s. Like him and the two other boys, she also wore glasses.

Some time went by as the classroom begin to fill with students. As the loud speakers played the piccolo-trumpet section of the song, he noticed a boy of African descent entering, two girls also of East Asian descent and several more other students, among them being two blonde-haired girls, a boy who may be of Hispanic descent and a couple of girls wearing hijabs and appeared to be of Middle-Eastern descent.

By that point, the school's radio station had finished playing _Penny Lane_ and started playing Johnny Cash's _I Walk the Line_.

Garfield nodded along as he listened to the country music, his fingers making movements as if he was actually playing the guitar while the country singer sang the lyrics in the song.

Eventually, the bell rang and then the performance of the national anthem, followed by the morning announcements came from the main office.

The class for first period was Canadian History, and his teacher is Ms. Susan Linney, who appeared to be in her mid-40s. Once the morning announcements ended, she introduced herself to the class before handing out the students' timetables while taking attendance.

After that, she then introduced the course and went through the objectives before proceeding with a class activity.

Garfield took the time to study his school timetable and took note of his locker number.

Seeing that his locker is also located on the third floor, he figured that he can spend lunch period walking around the hallways to find his locker.

After History class, he headed to his second period class, which was Orchestral Music. The teacher is Mr. Henry Bernstein, who was a violinist in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra with a brief stint as concertmaster prior to taking up music teaching.

As with the previous class, most of the class was spent on going through the course outline and objectives, though for this class, after the introduction to the course, the rest of the period was spent on listening to the gramophone player playing a rather-interesting live recording of a performance of Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1, a performance that took place in April 6, 1962 with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra featuring a famous and eccentric Canadian pianist.

Eventually came lunch period, and Garfield made his way to the cafeteria after washing his hands in the washroom.

He was new to the school, so he didn't know anyone just yet. As a result, he elected to sit at the corner of a table near the middle of the cafeteria by himself, right at the end facing the cafeteria's corridor.

As Garfield ate his sandwich with some rock music playing from the loudspeakers, he looked around and noticed a trio of other students, all girls.

The girls were chatting in Mandarin Chinese, and two of them were speaking to each other in another Chinese dialect he didn't understood.

"說不定她們兩人是從中國同一個省來的。" (Maybe those two came from the same province in China.) Garfield thought to himself as he took another bite.

After he finished his sandwich, he was about to munch on an apple when two of the girls left the table, probably to grab some lunch, and the third girl who didn't speak the dialect the other two were conversing in went to him.

"Excuse me." She said to Garfield, who looked up to her, as she nodded at the chair beside him. "Are you using this chair?"

"No." Garfield shook his head. "You can take it."

"Thank you." The girl nodded as she took the chair and Garfield resumed eating his apple.

A few minutes went by before the girl asked him, "So where are you from?"

Garfield thought that she may have become curious about the topic due to his appearance suggesting a certain ethnicity similar to hers and that of her friends.

"Taiwan." Garfield replied before resuming eating.

The girl nodded understandingly before her two friends returned with their lunches and took their seats.

The rest of the lunch period went by without anything significant for Garfield, and once he finished his lunch, he packed up his lunch bag, got up from his seat and headed out of the cafeteria, intending to take a walk around the block.

It was during his walk that he located his assigned locker. It was in the area in the third floor that struck to him as where the French classrooms are located.

Swiftly, he took out the green combination lock he has been using since attending Hillcrest High School and hooked it on the locker door before proceeding to put his school bag and lunch bag in the locker.

After locking his stuff in the locker, Garfield carried on with his walk around the block.

Along the way, he walked past the group of students he encountered earlier in the morning and glanced by as he noticed one of the couples cuddling while the others were sat close to each other and chatting with the rest of the group.

Anyways, after lunch period came his third period class: Career studies.

The teacher is Mrs. Diana McPhee, who, like Ms. Linney, appeared to be middle-aged and appeared to be stern but fair. Looking around, Garfield recognized a handful of students from his History class and another from his Music class.

Eventually came the final period class, which was Science, and the teacher is Mr. Gerald Wilkins, who appeared to be of easy manner. Prior to the class, he noticed one particularly tall boy with rough-looking hair, which made him thought he was a bully of sorts, maybe a jock.

Garfield shrugged as he sat in his seat on the east side of the classroom and paid attention to the teacher as he went through the course introduction.

After the bell rang at 15:00, Garfield and the rest of the class headed out and he made his way to his locker to grab his belongings and head home for the day.

That Tuesday was a rush for him, as that evening was also the first day of the cadet training year.

His squadron, one of the three local squadrons forming an Ottawa-based air cadet wing, has two training days per week. One on Tuesday and the other on Thursday. As a result, he had to arrive home early for homework, dinner and then head off to Uplands for the training night.

As he walked along Bronson Avenue, he wondered what interesting events awaits him in Glebe.

* * *

**Please read and review!**


	3. An encounter with the Ewell sisters

Chapter 3: An encounter with the Ewell sisters

_September 26, 1968_

The first four weeks of Garfield's attendance at Glebe Collegiate Institute went by like a flash, and in those weeks, a handful of interesting things came to Garfield's attention, in addition to him establishing some typical routines.

One of those routines was him carrying a portable phonograph with him into the cafeteria during lunch period so he can listen to a few gramophone records of his while eating lunch, and that phonograph was decorated with his various drawings of buses, trams, trains and aircraft.

On the fifth of September, he made two new female friends in Science class, both of whom took interest in his apparent smartness and sharp mind, which will later be proved well when they worked together in a lab the day after.

Also, during Orchestral Music class, he attracted the attention of several classmates and the teacher with his superb violin-playing and skilled piano-playing. As a consequence, he was made the student concertmaster of the school orchestra, with practices taking place every Monday and Wednesday after school.

That role as a concertmaster also enabled Garfield to learn conducting from Mr. Bernstein, and there has been occasions where he conducted the school orchestra in Mr. Bernstein's absence during practices.

Currently, the school orchestra are practicing a handful of music pieces for upcoming concerts during the school year: A handful of waltzes by Johann Strauss Jr., Richard Wagner's overtures to the _Flying Dutchman_ , _Lohengrin_ and _Tannhäuser_ , the complete first set of Antonín Dvořák's _Slavonic Dances_ , and George Enescu's _Romanian Rhapsody No. 1_ , in addition to Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto.

Garfield really enjoyed Orchestral Music class and taking part in the orchestra practices. All the practices reinforced his interest in classical music. As a matter a fact, he have dozens of classical music records and has a gramophone record in his bedroom, specific for him to listen to the music conveniently.

In addition, Garfield came to enjoy tuning into CBC's classical music radio and television programs everyday, particularly after school and after he had finished his homework when he's free.

Anyways, Garfield started to make more friends during those four weeks, including the guy in Science class who he thought looked like a bully. Garfield learned that his name is James Smith and he is quite the cheerful and easy-going-type.

He also made a handful of friends in his Career studies class, particularly after making a presentation.

The presentation in question was about the students' chosen future careers, with each student presenting two careers. Garfield's chosen two careers for the presentation were that of an architect and a cartoonist.

In the two weeks leading up to the presentation, the students do their research on their picked careers and present their findings in a slideshow, together with images or drawings to accommodate the slide show.

They were also given the option of playing their slideshow while playing music with the classroom's phonograph, provided that the music they're playing doesn't distract the presenter.

Eventually came the day of presentation, and prior to the first presentation, the students were asked to grab a number sheet from a hat without peeking.

Garfield got the number thirteen, while his friend Casey got the number three. However, Casey haven't quite finished his slideshow.

As Mrs. McPhee continued to walk around the classroom with students picking numbers, Casey turned to Garfield and after discussing the numbers they've got, Casey asked, "You mind if I swap numbers with you, Garfield?"

"Sure, no problem." Garfield shrugged. Afterall, he was finished with his slideshow and was anxious to get on with his presentations. As a matter a fact, he was hoping that he will get a number that is before ten.

"Great." Casey smiled as they traded their number sheets. "It's just that I haven't finished my slideshow."

"Not a problem, Casey." Garfield said. "I was looking forward to presenting today anyways."

Eventually came Garfield's turn to present, and his presentation instantly made him popular with the whole class, particularly with the humour he used as he presented along, together with his drawings and figures in the slides.

"Way to go, Garfield!" Linda Neals praised after Garfield finished his presentation and returned to his seat. "That was a great slideshow!"

"Thanks, Linda." Garfield replied with a smile as he took his seat.

Outside of class, Garfield also made a handful of friends during lunchtime, including with a girl named Morley who took interest in his portable phonograph and the drawings on it.

However, it was also during this time that he made a couple of rivals, or more to the point, nemeses at school: In the form of the Ewell twins.

Ronalee A. "Rona" Ewell and her twin sister Kellie L. Ewell have been butting heads with Garfield since, well, early in the fourth week of school, even though it was no fault of Garfield's. It all started rather abruptly with no provocation on Garfield's part.

As mentioned before, Garfield began making a lot of friends at school, and accelerated by his slideshow for Career studies, became quite popular in his classes, particularly due to his friendliness, sense of humour, sensible, shiness and sharp mind.

By contrast, the Ewells, in spite of doing well in classes particularly in the past year of their attendance, were never popular in school.

Rona and Kellie are part of a fairly-wealthy family. Their father Jason is an investor, a businessman of sorts, while their mother Lisa usually stays at home, with their family hiring the services of a butler, and the sisters are often seen sporting fashionable clothes at school.

The Ewells, particularly the mother and daughters, are well-known for their stinginess. All they seem to care about are money and social status, and the sisters often acted like, or expected them to be treated, like nobility, something that irritates their peers at school.

Another factor that made the sisters very unpopular at school is their spoiled, self-centered, impatient and selfish characters, with the motto "My way or the highway" and having the attitude of everything that goes wrong on their end is everybody else's fault.

The fact that Garfield, who barely transferred to Glebe at the start of the school year, was already becoming popular in school made the Ewell sisters jealous.

That was proven to be the case that late-afternoon after dinner, when Garfield was on his way to his cadet training night in summer work dress uniform.

His uniform consists of a dress shirt with a name plate labelled "WU", shoulder slip-ons that indicated his rank of Sergeant (Consisting of three chevrons worn downwards with the word "Cadet" at the bottom), the shirt tucked behind a pair of dress trousers and wearing a belt with a brass buckle.

On top of that, he was wearing the issued drill ankle-high boots, along with the issued wedge cap and his trademark green-gold watch, in addition to be holding a small briefcase carrying his notes.

As usual, Garfield was riding the streetcar heading for Billings Bridge, where he will transfer onto the suburban-regional train to Kemptville that also stops at the passenger terminal of Uplands Airport, upon which he will then take a five-to-ten-minute walk to the military installment located on base, where the training takes place.

After the streetcar pulled into the streetcar and bus stop just by the side of the main entrance to Ogilvy's, Garfield got off and made his way to the railway station.

Currently, the streetcar and bus stop and the railway station are located at different sides of the shopping mall, which required a walk through the mall in order for him to get to the station.

At least the government is planning to build a transit terminal at the site of the station, complete with a pedestrian linkage from the upper-level of the mall, that will consolidate the streetcar stop, bus stop and railway station under one single terminal, as work gets underway for the railway electrification and duplication project as part of a major project that will eventually see the railway tracks heading through downtown Ottawa and to the Alexandria Bridge going underground.

Anyways, Garfield marched his way through the mall, during which he encountered a navy officer walking in the opposite direction towards Ogilvy's.

Without hesitation, he placed his right hand up and stiffened his left arm in salute. "Sir!"

The navy officer in question placed his right hand up in response and nodded in acknowledgement before placing it back down, and Garfield followed suit.

A few seconds went by before Garfield spotted two familiar-figures ahead walking in the same direction as the navy officer who had saw his saluting of the officer.

"Well, look at that show-off walking like a new recruit." Rona said as she and Kellie walked over to Garfield. "You know that you should straighten your back further more if you want to earn a favour from that officer."

"My back is very straight, ladies." Garfield replied nonchalantly. "Thank you very much for the suggestion, and for your information, it's customary for cadets and soldiers to salute officers while in uniform to show respect, not to earn a favour. If the latter was actually the case, I won't be wearing these slip-ons."

He nodded at his Sergeant rank as he made the last remark.

"Yeah, whatever." Kellie rolled her eyes. "I suppose it's time for you to go do plenty of push-ups as punishment for crashing a fighter jet, then."

"Yeah, right." Garfield replied. "I haven't even reached the minimum age for me to get my pilot's license, plus we cadets don't go near fighter jets regularly and aren't trained to pilot one unless the circumstances warrants that to take place. If you sisters really think that you know a lot about the military better than I do, then good for you. I suggest that you go join the Girl Venture Corps, then."

"Huh." Rona snorted. "Coming from someone who keeps hoarding all the fame in school."

"Yeah, sure." Garfield replied sarcastically. "Now, I don't know what you ladies are talking about or why are you speaking to me the way you are right now, but if you girls show more respect and kindness to your peers at school, believe me, you wouldn't be having issues making friends."

In his time at Glebe, Garfield also heard gossips about the disdain much of the students have towards the Ewells, though he was taught never to gossip, and he was glad he never agreed with the idea, even if the very people subjected to the gossip are among the most despicable people he's ever encountered.

Glancing at his watch, Garfield added, "Now, if you'll excuse me, ladies, I've got a train to catch."

He then walked away from the sisters without another word while they looked on.

"Bet he'll be ordered to do plenty of push-ups if he arrives late." Kellie scoffed as they watched Garfield disappeared into the crowd.

"I won't be surprised if that is the case." Rona agreed. "Now, we'd better get our shopping done."

Her sister nodded as they walked towards Ogilvy's.

Both sisters looked quite attractive, particularly with the expensive-looking clothes they're wearing. However, their face expressions lacked character and it was easy to see through the friendly façade in their smiles and recognize the insincerity in them.

As Garfield marched his way to the railway station, he kept thinking about the encounter he had with the Ewells.

"難怪很多學校同學都說那對艾薇姊妹是被寵壞的。" (No wonder many schoolmates said that those Ewell sisters are spoiled.) He thought to himself after getting his season rail ticket ready as he entered the station and went through the ticket inspector.

He also remembered hearing news that the sisters' mother has been hoping that they'll marry a socially and financially well-off husband.

"我為她們兩姊妹的未來丈夫感到抱歉。" (I sure pity their future husbands.) Garfield thought, not having difficulties imagining what the Ewell sister's' future husbands will have to put up with: All the constant complaining and demands and their spoiled and money-hungry characters, unless the husbands themselves are just as bad as the sisters.

He shrugged at the thought and made his way to the platform, waiting only a few minutes before the diesel-electric locomotive-hauled train bound for Kemptville pulled into the platform.

* * *

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	4. A fire drill and the theft

Chapter 4: A fire drill and the theft

_October 9, 1968_

More than a week after his encounter with the Ewell sisters, Garfield was continuing on with his school routines as usual.

By that point, he had gotten settled in with the school work and continued to make new friends, plenty of whom that are willing to spring to his defense whenever the Ewell sisters tangle with him.

That morning, Garfield was reading the newspaper about the country's Secretary of State for External Affairs meeting the Japanese Foreign Minister during the former's bilateral visit to Japan.

Nodding thoughtfully as he read along, Garfield then went through the rest of his morning routine.

The rest of the school day went by normally, although around 14:30, half an hour before the end of his Career studies class in the final period, there was a fire drill practice.

As the school was evacuated, Garfield walked with his pals as they headed across First Avenue and onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street.

Along the way out of the school, Garfield happened to take a look down the hallway, where he caught a glimpse of a person heading down the main hallway towards the main office rather than towards the nearby stairs.

As he blinked, Garfield thought that person was holding something round.

"What's that person doing?" Garfield thought to himself. "Shouldn't he be heading down the stairs behind him?"

He then shrugged before continuing down the stairs.

As the faculty gathered on the sidewalk across First Avenue, Garfield can hear the sirens from a distance.

"Here comes the fire trucks from Bank Street." He remarked to his friends.

"Let's hope we can get this over with soon." One of his friends, named Wallace, remarked. "It's getting chilly out here with the wind."

"Yeah." Another, named Frank, agreed. "In the rush of evacuating, I forgot to bring my jacket."

Several moments went by and Garfield noticed some students sitting on the sidewalk playing cards.

"You know, guys, maybe next time we ought to bring playing cards with us." He said to his friends, gesturing to the group of students playing cards as he spoke.

"Say, that's a good idea, Garfield." Casey agreed. "That way, we can find a way to pass the time while we wait for the fire department to shut off the alarm."

"Indeed." Linda, who overheard the conversation, nodded in agreement.

Eventually, the fire alarm inside the school building was shut off and the faculty was given the all-clear signal to re-enter the school building.

For the faculty members on the First Avenue side, they had to wait for an Ottawa Transportation Commission GM Newlook bus, with its destination sign at the front signing "6 Holland", pass by before crossing the street and re-enter the school building.

Once all of the class returned to the classroom, Mrs. McPhee resumed the class. However, it didn't take long before they heard someone outside shout, "Someone call the police!"

There was some stunned silence from Mrs. McPhee as she paused and looked towards the open door, in time to see another student running eastward down the hallway.

"What's the matter?" Another voice asked.

"Someone had broken into my classroom during the fire drill!" The first voice, who Mrs. McPhee recognized as Mrs. McGinnis' voice, shouted. "The Plate of Henry VIII, which is an ancient plate containing an engraving of King Henry VIII of England that I have kept on display in the classroom, is missing!"

"Stolen?" Mrs. McPhee remarked before turning to her class. "Were any of you guys near her classroom when the fire alarm went off?"

Everyone in the classroom, including Garfield, shook their heads.

"I thought so, too." Mrs. McPhee remarked. "Maybe someone in her class did."

Just as she finished her remark, they heard Mrs. McGinnis speaking to someone whose voice they recognized as that of the school principal Mr. Stanley Page.

"No." Mrs. McGinnis was saying. "I was the last one to be out of the classroom, and when I closed the door on my way out, the plate was still in its display case."

"Oh dear." Mr. Page can be heard saying. "That means none of your students could've returned to the classroom during the course of the evacuation and take the plate."

At overhearing the remarks, Garfield immediately remembered the figure he saw walking towards the main office while he and his classmates were evacuating.

"Could that person be carrying that missing plate?" He thought to himself.

"Well, I hope that they find the culprit that stole the ancient plate." Mrs. McPhee said. "I heard that it's worth a fortune."

It was then that Garfield raised his hand. "Yes, Garfield?"

"Well, Mrs. McPhee, it just so happened that I may have caught a glimpse of the culprit during the course of our evacuating the school." He said.

"Oh really?" Mrs. McPhee asked. "Who was the person?"

"I didn't get a good look of that person's face, as he was heading around the corner onto the main hallway, towards the direction of the main office, just as I caught a glimpse of him." Garfield replied. "However, I did notice that he was holding something round like a plate."

"I see." Mrs. McPhee nodded thoughtfully. "In that case, why don't you go see Mrs. McGinnis and tell her on what you saw?"

"Sure thing." Garfield nodded before getting up from his seat and headed out of the classroom.

Almost immediately, he saw Mr. Page and Mrs. McGinnis standing outside the classroom door with the latter on the phone. Garfield assumed that she was speaking to the police.

Soon, she hung up as he approached them. Mr. Page was the first to notice Garfield approaching them.

"Mr. Wu." He said. "What brings you to the school hallway if the school bell isn't due to ring for another twenty minutes?"

"Mr. Page, Mrs. McGinnis." Garfield replied as he got to the point. "I might have caught a glimpse on the culprit that stole Mrs. McGinnis' ancient plate."

"Oh really?" Mr. Page asked as he and Mrs. McGinnis both raised an eyebrow. "Did you identify the person?"

"Unfortunately, no sir." Garfield shook his head. "The person was already heading around the corner onto the main hallway, walking in the direction towards the main office, when I caught a glimpse of him during the course of our evacuation from the school building for the fire drill."

Before either adult could say a word, Garfield continued, "However, I do recall that the person had short, black hair, was wearing what appeared to be a dark-brown shirt and dark blue trousers, and that man was holding something round."

"I see." Mrs. McGinnis nodded. "Does the man look like he might be one of our students?"

Garfield thought for a while before shaking his head. "I don't think so. The man looked tall enough to be an adult. In fact, if there's a student that's really that tall, like six feet tall, he's gotta stand out in the crowd."

"Right." Mr. Page nodded thoughtfully. "And since the school faculty was in the process of evacuating for the fire drill, what could've possessed a student to break into Mrs. McGinnis' classroom and take the ancient plate from the display?"

"Not to mention that the 'student' should have turned right instead of left at that corner up ahead." Garfield added, gesturing towards the corner in question.

"Anyways, the police are on their way as we speak." Mrs. McGinnis said. "Hopefully, the Plate of Henry VIII resurfaces by the end of the day."

* * *

Ten minutes later, a couple of police constables and a station sergeant arrived at the school.

As the three officers arrived, Garfield recognized the station sergeant as Pilot Officer Roger Lenny, his level training officer at his air cadet squadron who's also a police officer.

"Ah, Mr. Wu." Lenny said when he recognized Garfield. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well, sir." Garfield nodded. "I believe Mrs. McGinnis has told you over the phone about the theft, right?"

"Yes indeed." Lenny nodded before he and the constables turned to Mr. Page and Mrs. McGinnis.

After the two adults gave the police a run-down on what has happened during the fire drill, Garfield then provided his account on catching a glimpse of the culprit during the evacuation.

Lenny and the two constables all promised to get to the bottom of the case before dismissing Garfield and continuing with their discussion with the two adults.

As Garfield returned to retrieve his stuff in Mrs. McPhee's classroom, he thought to himself. "Sure hope they find the culprit that stole the Plate of Henry VIII."

* * *

After returning home from school, Garfield went through his usual routine of finishing his school work while listening to some gramophone records playing classical music.

As he and Dave worked on their school work, Diana and Emma worked on several kitchen chores in preparing dinner before their mother returns home from work for the day.

Garfield and Dave eventually finished their school work and joined their sisters in the kitchen chores.

As they joined their sisters in the kitchen, Garfield said to Dave, "I saw Pilot Officer Lenny at school this afternoon."

"Oh, really?" Dave asked. Like his older brother and other cadets in their squadron, Dave, who currently holds the rank of Leading Air Cadet (LAC) in the air cadets, is also aware of Lenny's day job as a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Force of the District of Carleton. "What happened?"

"有人趁全校進行火災訓練的時候偷了一個歷史老師擁有的古碗盤。" (Someone stole an ancient plate owned by a history teacher during the school's taking part in a fire drill.) Garfield explained. "The teacher then called the police."

"Oh." Dave nodded.

"I hope they caught the culprit." Diana, who overheard the conversation, remarked as she chopped some carrots.

"Yeah, same here." Garfield nodded as he and Dave joined their sisters in the kitchen.

* * *

Later, after their mother returned home for work that evening, the family sat around the dining table to have dinner after some cooking.

After dinner, they did the dishes and went out for a walk in the neighbourhood, during which Garfield related his school day to their mother and mentioned the theft that took place during the fire drill.

"一定是有不良人士趁火打劫的。" (Must be someone taking advantage of a fire and robbing.) Melissa remarked after her eldest son recounted the day's events at school. "希望警方遲早抓到那位梁上君子。" (Hope the police capture the thief.)

"我也希望如此。" (I hope so too.) Garfield nodded in agreement.

* * *

That night, Garfield was lying on his bed as he struggled to get some sleep.

However, he wasn't able to keep the fire drill and the theft of Mrs. McGinnis' Plate of Henry VIII out of his mind.

Nor was he able to stop thinking about that mysterious figure he saw in the main hallway while he and his schoolmates were evacuating from the building.

* * *

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	5. The tale of a local entrepreneur

Chapter 5: The tale of a local entrepreneur

_October 10, 1968_

The next day, Garfield went through with his usual routine at school.

During his lunchtime walk, though, he did walked past Mrs. McGinnis, who called him over for a discussion.

"Garfield, my man." Mrs. McGinnis said. "Thank you for providing your account on what you saw during the fire drill yesterday afternoon."

"No problem, Mrs. McGinnis." Garfield replied. "I just wanted to help. And speaking of which, were the police able to find the culprit?"

"Unfortunately, no." Mrs. McGinnis shook her head. "Nor were they able to find the priceless plate, even after interviewing any additional possible witnesses."

"That's too bad." Garfield agreed before a thought occurred to him. "Say, I'm just curious about one thing, Mrs. McGinnis: How did the Plate of Henry VIII came into your possession?"

"Well, it's a long story, my man." Mrs. McGinnis replied as she collected her thoughts. "To sum things up, it was given to me as a gift from a old friend who was close to the school faculty and had done plenty of favours to the school and the city."

"Yes indeed." Mr. Page, who happened to be walking by and overheard the conversation, said as he joined in. "His name was Bruce Stevenson, and he was a wealthy philanthropist that has done plenty of favours to the school and the city."

At the remark, Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"I do recall reading the newspaper about him regarding his passing several months ago." Garfield nodded. "From what I've read, he was indeed a kind, decent businessman who has made plenty of contributions to various charitable causes, and as the owner of the Ottawa Car Company, he was very kind and generous to his employees and contributed to the city's decision to retain its streetcars at a time when other cities are talking about replacing them with buses completely."

Born in Ottawa in the last two decades of the Victorian Era, Bruce Stevenson grew up in modest household and eventually established himself as a wealthy entrepreneur after obtaining his degree in civil engineering and working years in the railway industry.

With his heart mainly placed in his home city and a big proponent of streetcars, Bruce purchased all of the stakes to the Ottawa Car & Aircraft Corporation from the Mailman Corporation in the late-1940s. That purchase came at a time when many cities across North America were considering abandoning their streetcars and the future of the streetcar manufacturer seemed dim.

His timing of buying the local streetcar manufacturer couldn't have been better, as the Federal District Commission was initiating an urban development plan for Ottawa that would've seen railway tracks torn up in the city's core and Ottawa following the leads of several cities elsewhere in North America in abandoning its streetcars.

Fortunately, Bruce's reputation and connections to local politics, in combination to his innovative vision on urban planning, eventually lead the federal government, on the advice of the District of Carleton House of Assembly, to advise the Federal District Commission in drafting a revised urban plan that includes streetcars and maintaining the existing railways in the National Capital Region in the vision.

The revised urban develop plan kept the railways and streetcars in downtown Ottawa-Hull, in addition to adding green spaces in the city, take a balanced approach in constructing highways, and better transform the city into a government city that actually functions as the nucleus of the federal government of Canada.

The latter goal came not long after the Veterans Memorial Buildings, built to house the then-rapidly expanding Department of Veterans Affairs and consisting of the East Memorial Building and the West Memorial Building, were inaugurated in 1956 and 1962 respectively.

After taking over control of the company, Bruce Stevenson was credited in saving the company's bottom line, and his approval of an innovative streetcar design, which comes with a braking system that saves the amount of electricity the streetcar consumes while braking, in combination with several innovative designs in streetcar-related infrastructure that improves the system's efficiency, led to the company's expansion across Canada, together with an increase in production.

It was through Bruce Stevenson's efforts that led to the Ottawa Car & Aircraft Corporation, now renamed back to its old name (Ottawa Car Company), to become a major streetcar manufacturer in Canada, in addition to many Canadian cities reconsidering plans to abandon their streetcars.

Of course, part of that can be attributed to Stevenson's partnering up with the legendary general manager of the Ottawa Transportation Commission, Harold Lowe, who shared Stevenson's vision of a streetcar-dominated Ottawa.

It was Lowe that was instrumental of placing the innovative streetcars designed by the Ottawa Car Company in service, in addition to developing methods to optimize the new streetcars' performance and efficiency with service quality.

Under Lowe's leadership, ridership of the Ottawa Transportation Commission increased, while the streetcar network expanded further out to the outlying communities.

In early 1961, the Route 1 Bank/Rideau streetcar line was extended south along Bank Street to service the new Billings Bridge/Riverside terminal at the shopping centre.

Meanwhile, in that same year, the Route 26 Bronson/Wellington trolley coach line was replaced by a new streetcar route that branched off from Sparks Street, travelled south along Bronson Avenue, where it loops around the new Carleton University before joining the Route 1 and terminate at the Billings Bridge/Riverside terminal.

By the year of Canada's Centennial celebrations, Ottawa's streetcar network has expanded into neighbouring Nepean and Gloucester, where the new trip were supplemented by buses.

It was also that past year that the Government of the District of Carleton, together with the Province of Quebec, the Province of Ontario and the federal government made a joint announcement, marking the beginning of a study that evaluates the feasibility of operating a commuter rail service for the National Capital Region.

It came after the Government of Ontario launched a commuter rail service for Toronto in the form of GO Transit while Montreal, the economic centre and a major railway hub of the country, already has commuter rail service operated by Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railways.

Naturally, being an advocate for railway transport, Bruce Stevenson supported the study and voiced his intention to expand the Ottawa Car Company's functions into manufacturing passenger railcars in addition to streetcars.

Anyways, besides his contributions to public transit and urban planning in Ottawa, Bruce Stevenson was well liked by the workers of the company he owned.

His introduction of a new pension system for the company earned him praises from his employees, who also liked his hands-on management approach to running the company's operations, and as mentioned before, he was able to increase its profitability as its operations subsequently expanded to other Canadian cities.

In addition, he had contributed to various charitable causes and established scholarships for promising, talented young people going into the arts and engineering fields, and it was his personal friendship with Mr. Page that led to a close, special relationship with Glebe Collegiate Institute.

He will volunteer at the school's various events, and his involvement and organization of several school events and activities, such as the school concerts and Halloween parties, left him with a huge impression from the school faculty.

He had funded a few archeological expeditions in the past, and it was during one expedition in England that led him to discover the Plate of Henry VIII, which he had given to Mrs. McGuiness as a gift when she won the Teacher of the Year Award in 1965.

Many of the school faculty remembered Bruce Stevenson as a very kind person, and even though Garfield never met with the man before, he had held him in a very high regard.

Alas, Bruce's golden period wouldn't last very long. Already in his 70s and approaching his 80s by the time he voiced his intention to expand the Ottawa Car Company's functions into manufacturing passenger railcars, his health was failing.

It took a heart attack in the early fall of 1967 to convince Bruce Stevenson to retire, and following his recovery in October 1967, Bruce Stevenson passed the ownership of the Ottawa Car Company to his protege Edward Mackenzie, who carried on with Bruce Stevenson's method of operating the OCC following his installation as the company's president through an unanimous vote by its board of directors.

After his wife of 60 years Amanda Stevenson (Nee Eaton) passed away in her sleep, Bruce Stevenson began living with relatives, several of whom were poor but nonetheless were happy to take him in and treated him well.

By that point, Bruce had began writing a will at the advice of his personal barrister, where he intended to leave his fortune to those that was nice to him, as he and Amanda had no children of their own.

It was during that time, though, that a certain family who previously never expressed interest in Bruce Stevenson suddenly begged the man to live with them, free of rent. It took some convincing before the old man finally agreed, and shortly after moving in with that family, he decided to tore out the first will and wrote a new one, where he will leave his estate to the family in question.

However, as the weeks went by, Bruce Stevenson became more unhappy as he lived with that family, and it was rumoured that he frequently slipped out of the house to visit his relatives and friends.

Those rumours led to more rumours that the elderly philanthropist intended to write a new will again, though the information couldn't be confirmed.

In March 1968, Bruce Stevenson became critically ill, and on his deathbed, he attempted to whisper something into the ears of the doctor that was attending him.

Unfortunately, the only word that was intelligible was "will", and after his funeral, only one will turned up and it awarded his sizable estate to the family that took care of him last and nothing else to his friends and relatives.

The name of the family that begged Bruce Stevenson to live with them and received his sizable estate after his funeral: The Ewell family.

"No wonder everyone in school doesn't see eye-to-eye with the Ewell sisters." Garfield remarked after the teacher and principal related the story behind the local entrepreneur.

"Indeed, Garfield." Mr. Page nodded in agreement. "Many of the school faculty didn't like what the Ewell family did to poor Mr. Stevenson and the way they treated him while he was living with them. It's a shame that the relatives and friends that deserve his fortune the most didn't get a penny."

"Unless someone manages to unearth another will." Garfield offered.

"Maybe." Mrs. McGuiness said. "But chances of that happening is slim to none, as Mr. Stevenson's personal barrister didn't know if Mr. Stevenson had drawn up a new will, even though several of his relatives are certain that he had wrote a new will that will award his fortune to them."

"What will happen if a new will is unearthed?" Garfield asked, raising an eyebrow.

"One thing for sure is that the Ewell family will contest it and drag the matter into court." Mr. Page replied. "Especially if Mr. Stevenson had left a loophole in his will."

* * *

Later that late afternoon, Garfield was on his way to Uplands for cadets and was seated on the streetcar and reading the newspaper as it travelled south down Bronson Avenue.

By coincidence, the Ewell sisters were also on board the streetcar, en route to Billings Bridge, and they happened to be seated a few seats away from Garfield.

Garfield pretended not to hear the sisters, but listening to their voices made him want to blow his top.

"The way those sisters and their family took advantage of Mr. Stevenson and cheated their way into getting their hands on his fortune..." Garfield thought to himself furiously. "...每次一想到那件事我心裡就開始火大!" (...Every time when I think of it, I just want to burst!)

He quickly shook his head at the thought in an attempt to dissipate the anger growing inside him.

"不、不、不。" (No, no, no.) He shook his head. "我火大是不會解決那個問題的。" (Me getting angry won't solve that problem.)

He then flipped a page as he continued with his thoughts, "就不要想她們。" (Just don't think about them.)

However, just as he flipped the page, Garfield's ears perked up when he overheard Kellie mentioned, "-the will."

* * *

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	6. A conversation, a discussion and another theft

Chapter 6: A conversation, a discussion and another theft

Now, like most reasonable people who respects the privacies of others, Garfield considers the prospect of listening in to someone else's conversation as an unilateral invasion of ones privacy.

So when he overheard Kellie mentioning the word, "-the will.", he started to debate in his mind on whether to listen in to the conversation - and risk getting caught - or ignore the conversation.

Thinking about Bruce Stevenson's relatives and friends that didn't receive his fortune, though, made Garfield decide to listen in.

"我是不喜歡監聽別人的對話，但為了史蒂文森先生能夠把他的遺產留給最應當得到他的遺產的其他親戚朋友而非讓那些有錢的艾薇家庭把那副遺產全部獨佔掉，我很恐怕這會是必須的。" (As much as I hate listening in to other people's conversations, I'm afraid this is going to be necessary for the sake of Bruce Stevenson's more deserving relatives and friends getting his fortune instead of the well-off Ewells hogging all of it.) Garfield thought to himself as he listened closely.

"Those so-called 'relatives' think they deserve a fair share of Mr. Stevenson's fortune." Rona was nodding. "How pathetic. Who took care of him the longest?"

"That will be us, thanks to the scheme cooked up by Mother." Kellie agreed. "None of them took care of him as long as we did, and it was smart of Mother to not accept any board money from him."

"Yeah." Rona said. "However, I sure wish Father will stop worrying that someone will show up with another will that will take away a pile of money from us."

"Indeed." Kellie nodded. "Though he does have reasons to be worried. If another will shows up, I'm sure we're going to be out of luck."

"True." Rona nodded thoughtfully. "I thought Mother kept a sharp eye on him."

"I don't think she did at all times." Kellie snorted. "That smart old man managed to get out of her clutches several times, don't forget."

"Right." Rona nodded. "Trouble now is, with all these rumours of another will floating around, Father can't rest easy."

"Yeah." Kellie sighed before her face expression returned to her usual energetic but sour form. "But don't worry. As I said before, as long as those 'relatives' haven't find the will, the money is ours and Mother won't let that pile of money get away from us easily."

"Indeed." Rona agreed as they got up from their seats and prepared to get off the streetcar.

Garfield frowned as he digested the information gathered from their conversation.

"So it seems like the Ewells are concerned about the existence of another will by Bruce Stevenson." He surmised as he gently folded the newspaper he was reading. "That sure means that if another will does exist, those relatives and friends will have to move fast to find it before the Ewells does."

As he made the thought, something else occurred to him. "But what about the theft at school during the fire drill yesterday?"

He then shrugged as he got off the streetcar before thinking, "Looks like I'll be speaking with Pilot Officer Lenny tonight."

* * *

The first half of the training night went by as usual with the opening parade practice, followed by the sergeants gathered together for classes and training.

Eventually came break time, and Garfield decided to take a rest at the canteen chairs as the cadets gathered for snacks and relaxing.

As he observed a group of corporals seated at a nearby table playing cards, Garfield caught a glimpse of Pilot Officer Lenny walking by the canteen table.

Before he got up, Pilot Officer Lenny saw him and walked towards him as if he was expecting to have a chat with him.

"Good evening, Segreant Wu." Lenny smiled as he approached Garfield.

"Evening, sir." Garfield nodded as he got up from his seat, put his wedge cap back on and saluted. "How are you?"

"I'm doing alright, thank you." Lenny nodded as he saluted back. "The night is young."

"Yes indeed, sir." Garfield agreed with a nod.

"I can see that there's something in your mind, Mr. Wu." Lenny said.

"Yes, there is, sir." Garfield nodded. "I wanted to ask if you know if there has been any developments in the theft of Mrs. McGuiness' Plate of Henry VIII."

"I see." Kenny nodded understandingly before frowning. "Unfortunately, my colleagues haven't been able to find any traces of the culprit, nor were we able to find the stolen plate."

"That's too bad." Garfield frowned. "Mrs. McGuiness said that it was a gift from the notable late-Ottawa-based entrepreneur Bruce Stevenson."

At the mention of Mr. Stevenson's name, Garfield hoped that it will spark an interest from Lenny about the case of the late-entrepreneur rumoured to have wrote another will.

"Ah, yes, I do know about Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Wu." Lenny said. "A shame what happened to him towards the end of his life, having to put up with people who only took care of him because they know that he will leave his fortune to them."

"You know about the Ewells, sir?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I do." Lenny nodded. "Now, I'm not the type that enjoys spreading gossip around. However, an old chief superintendent I served under who recently retired from the police force recently was a golfing buddy of Jason Ewell, who is, in fact, a first cousin once-removed of Mr. Stevenson."

"I see." Garfield nodded understandingly.

"Anyways, the retired chief superintendent have confided with us that he used to enjoy golfing with Mr. Ewell before he and his family received all of Mr. Stevenson's fortune." Lenny continued. "And he didn't like how the Ewells abused poor Mr. Stevenson and made him wrote a second will that led him to award his estate to them."

"Yes, I did hear about the rumours about that, sir." Garfield interjected. "I also did hear that Mr. Stevenson's other relatives and friends, who had helped him or did favours to him in the past and aren't as well-off as the Ewells, are planning to file a claim stating that Mr. Stevenson had left another will, which will award Mr. Stevenson's estate rightfully to them."

"Unfortunately, without proof that another will exists, that case can't go any further." Another voice suddenly said.

Both Lenny and Garfield turned and looked. It was Flying Officer Marvin Nash, who in his full time works as a barrister.

"Flying Officer Nash." Lenny said.

"Sorry about that." Nash said as he joined in with the conversation. "I was passing by and heard you two discussing the case and I couldn't help but decide to join in."

"It's okay." Lenny said as Garfield nodded. "As Mr. Wu was saying, Mr. Stevenson's other friends and relatives are planning to file a claim stating that Mr. Stevenson had left a will that awards his estate to them."

"Yes, I have a friend in the legal circles who was approached by Mr. Stevenson months ago. He mentioned that the entrepreneur had expressed his interest in writing a new will, and my friend gave him instructions on how to proceed. As they part ways, Mr. Stevenson promised to return with the new will." Nash nodded before sighing. "However, the man never returned with a new will and unless he have it witnessed and signed, which are both essential for the will to become legal, there's a risk that the Ewells can use it as a basis to have it declared void."

Garfield nodded thoughtfully.

"And speaking of the Ewells, I overheard their conversation while riding the streetcar on my way here, sirs." He said.

As the two officers both raised an eyebrow, Garfield proceeded to give them a summary on their discussion on the possibility of the existence of another will.

"As the old saying goes, 'Where there's smoke, there's fire.'" Nash remarked.

"Indeed." Lenny nodded. "It's a clear indication that they're concerned about the existence of another will."

"Now the big question is: If Mr. Stevenson did write another will, where could he had hidden it if he didn't return to your colleague with the new will, sir?" Garfield asked.

"That's a good question, Mr. Wu." Nash nodded.

There was some silence between the two officers and Garfield before they noticed the look of determination on his face.

"Mr. Wu, you look like you're interested in taking a look at the case." Nash remarked.

"Yes indeed, sir." Garfield nodded. "My conversation about Mr. Stevenson with Mrs. McGuiness and Mr. Page sparked an interest in his case inside me, sir, and I can't help but feel sorry about Mr. Stevenson's more-deserving relatives and friends after hearing Mr. Stevenson's story."

"And you want to help, I suppose." Lenny added.

"Yes, sir." Garfield said. "If I can lend them a hand and help them sort out the mess relating to the missing will, it'll make me rest easy."

Nash and Lenny shared a look with each other before nodding.

"Very well, then, Mr. Wu." Nash said. "If you need any help, don't hesitate to come find Pilot Officer Lenny and I for help."

"No problem, sirs." Garfield nodded. "I'll keep you both in the loop in case some interesting developments occur, and hopefully, we'll find out who stole Mrs. McGuiness' Plate of Henry VIII."

* * *

_October 11, 1968_

The school day went by normally for any Friday as Garfield went through his usual routine. Go to his first two classes, then have lunch at his usual spot in the cafeteria on his own, and then go out for a walk in the hallways around the school block.

It was a routine Garfield was getting used to as the weeks went by, and along the way during his walk, he will say an occasional "Hi" to a friend or acquaintance passing by.

However, during his walk through the third floor hallway heading towards the school's east side, which is where the science classrooms are located at, he heard a shriek around the corner.

"發生什麼事?" (What happened?) Garfield wondered to himself as he heard the shriek.

He quickly rounded the corner, where he saw a group of students gathered around a locker.

"What just happened?" He asked one of the students gathered around a locker.

"Someone has broken into the locker of our friend here." One of the students said, gesturing towards the locker as she spoke. "And her rare vinyl disk has been stolen."

Garfield took a look at the locker the student was gesturing at. He can see that the lock was clearly damaged.

"Holy moly." He remarked. "Seems like a thief is on the loose in school here."

"It would seem so." A second student nodded. "They still haven't find Mrs. McGuiness' missing plate, eh?"

"No." Garfield shook his head before turning to the student standing by her locker with a look of disbelief on her face. "Was the vinyl disk still in your locker when you last here?"

"Yes." The student said. "That was yesterday afternoon. I just arrived back in school from my co-op placement."

"And none of you guys saw something out of the ordinary with regards to the lock?" Garfield turned to the others.

"No." Everyone else shook their heads. "Glenda was returning from her co-op placement and then arrived at her locker, which was then she saw the lock damaged."

"And when I opened my locker door, I saw that the vinyl disk was missing." Glenda added.

"I see." Garfield nodded understandingly. He thought of something before adding, "I think Principal Page may want to know about this."

"Exactly what we were thinking." The first student said. "In fact, one of our friends just headed down the stairs for the main office when Glenda made the discovery."

Just as the student finished speaking, the nearby door to the centre stairwell opened, and in came the school principal and the student.

"Oh dear." Mr. Page remarked after surveying the locker with the damaged lock. "This is clearly not good at all."

"Not good indeed, sir." The second student nodded in agreement.

During the conversation, Garfield looked around and caught a glimpse of a figure pushing a cart around the corner, turning onto the north side hallway.

A janitor.

The positioning of the janitors arms with the way he was pushing the cart reminded Garfield of the figure he caught a glimpse of on Wednesday during the fire drill evacuation.

FLASHBACK - Two Days Ago

_October 9, 1968_

As Garfield was following the crowd of students in evacuating from the school building in the fire drill, he turned towards the south end.

In that brief moment, he spotted the figure rounding the corner and heading towards the main office instead of down the stairs to his right and evacuate.

The figure's arms were in a position that looked like he was pushing a cart. As a matter a fact, Garfield thought he caught a split-second glimpse of a garbage bin just before the figure began rounding the corner, in addition to hearing the distance noise of garbage bin wheels turning.

END FLASHBACK

"Mr. Wu?" Mr. Page's voice snapped Garfield out of his thoughts as he made the flashback.

Seeing all eyes are on him, Garfield quickly recovered his posture.

"Sorry, sir." He said. "I just thought of something."

"What is it?" Mr. Page asked.

"I was thinking that could it be possible that the culprit that stole Mrs. McGuiness' Plate of Henry VIII is the same one that stole Glenda's rare vinyl disk." Garfield said before explaining his reasoning.

"You may be onto something, Mr. Wu." Mr. Page nodded after the explanations.

"But why will someone steal that rare plate and my vinyl disk?" Glenda asked.

"Perhaps the thief could make a fortune selling the stuff in the black market." One of her friends offered.

"Whatever the reason is, ladies and gentlemen, it pains me to say that we've got a thief on the loose in school." Mr. Page said. "This is something that will sure tarnish our school's good name."

"Could the thief be someone from Lisgar, Mr. Page?" One of the students asked, referring to the school's crosstown rival Lisgar Collegiate Institute.

"Is it possible for a student attending Lisgar to go through the trouble in coming all the way here just to steal stuff?" Mr. Page asked. "Besides, unless the culprit is familiar with the area, surely it should be easy for the culprit to be caught since he or she can't find a proper place to hide the loot, right?"

"True." The students all nodded at the principal's reasoning.

"Anyways, I'm going to ask the school radio announcer to warn the faculty to be vigilant for the next few days until the culprit is caught." Principal Page said. "This behaviour is clearly not acceptable in school and will never be tolerated!"

* * *

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	7. In the library

Chapter 7: In the library

_October 14, 1968_

The latest theft at school during lunch period this past Friday was the topic many of the school's faculty was discussing about in the past few days, together with the fact that the police couldn't find the culprits.

As Principal Page had promised, the school announcer warned the faculty to be vigilant as the thefts continued in that day's morning announcements.

Anyways, that morning, prior to first period class, on his way up to his locker, Garfield ran into Mrs. McGuiness.

"Morning, Mrs. McGuiness." Garfield said in greeting.

"Morning, Garfield my man." Mrs. McGuiness nodded. "How was your weekend?"

"It was the usual." Garfield replied. "Any news on your Plate of Henry VIII?"

"No." Mrs. McGuiness shook her head. "And what's worst is that over the weekend, more of my collection of ancient artifacts have gone missing, along with several more items around the school."

"Over the weekend?" Garfield asked before remembering that a grandfather clock that typically sits in the middle wall between the door entrances to the school auditorium was missing when he went to grab the newspaper at the main entrance. "Holy moly. Have you told Mr. Page about the disappearances?"

"Yes I did." Mrs. McGuiness nodded. "As you may expect, he was clearly not happy about the news."

"I can imagine." Garfield said. "It's a wonder that this string of thefts haven't hit the news yet."

"Now don't jinx us, Garfield." Mrs. McGuiness jokingly said. "You never know when will the news of the thefts reach the papers."

"True." Garfield nodded just as the school bell rang. "Anyways, hope the school and police get to the bottom of this. This has got to stop."

"Yes indeed." Mrs. McGuiness said.

* * *

Later during second period, Garfield and his history class were down in the library for their class project.

Their topic of research for the project is the Roaring 1920s, at a time when an economic boom brought the economy of Canada up.

Anyways, as Ms. Brennan the school librarian explained the class project and research methods and methods of citation, Garfield thought that the librarian sounded weird and wasn't herself.

Each of the students were given a topic to research on for that decade, and Garfield decided to research the King-Byng Affair of 1926.

He was grouped with the students that are going to research the politics from the era, which includes the change in Canada's relations with the British during the decade and its subsequent ascent to a more-independent path.

Canada in the 1920s was different than it is today  **(Today being the late-1960s within the context of this story. See the dates that are shown in _italics_ )**. At that time, the Senate of Canada has 96 seats and the House of Commons with 235.

It was the decade that Canada began charting a more-independent foreign policy under Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Canada first made its point of charting a more-independent foreign policy as the 1922 Chanak Crisis threatened to escalate into a war between the UK and the Ottoman Empire, who remained neutral during the 1914-1919 European Great War  **(See first chapter for disclaimer)** , though it wasn't without problems of its own internally during the war in question.

As the crisis escalates, the then-British Prime Minister David Lloyd George appealed to the dominions for support in case war broke out. However, the Canadian prime minister responded by stating that the Parliament of Canada will decide the course of action to take on whether to support London.

The crisis eventually dissipated by the time the Canadian House of Commons began its debate, but Mackenzie King had made his point and it was that episode, together with the King-Byng Affair four years later, that led to a reexamination of the relations between London and the British dominions.

Anyways, Garfield joined the group of students and set off to find the material regarding their research topics.

As Garfield was standing up, he happened to catch a glimpse of a figure pushing a cart at the far end of the library, behind the shelves of books.

He was very sure that the items on the cart appeared to be cleaning supplies.

"What's a janitor doing in the library?" Garfield thought to himself suspiciously. "如果他是來清理地板的話，他不是應該使用吸塵器的嗎?" (If he's here to clean the floor, shouldn't he be using a vacuum cleaner?)

The library had a carpet floor and when it comes to cleaning, it requires the use of a vacuum cleaner.

Under the pretense of going to the back to find a book for his research topic, Garfield got up from his seat and walked towards the far end of the library.

As he walked towards the far end of the library, Garfield thought he heard the sound of wheels hitting concrete pavement before hearing what he thought to be a massive brickwall moving.

Soon, he was at the far end of the library. To his surprise, the figure he saw was nowhere to be seen!

"不會吧。" (Impossible.) Garfield thought to himself. "That man wasn't moving fast enough towards the southeast corner, and I didn't hear him walking down the corridor to my left."

He then walked down the far end corridor and rounded a few corners. The figure was still nowhere to be seen.

His antics soon caught the attention of Ms. Linney, who walked over to him.

"You looking for something, Garfield?" Ms. Linney asked.

"Well, a minute ago, I caught a glimpse of someone pushing a cart walking towards the east side of the library on the corridor at the far end, Ms. Linney." Garfield said, gesturing towards the far end and the direction of the figure he saw as he spoke. "But when I walked over there to find a book, the figure was nowhere to be seen. Did you or anyone else happen to see someone pushing a cart a minute ago?"

"Not really." Ms. Linney said. "What's the matter?"

"It's something not related to the class project, Ms. Linney." Garfield said. "But I thought that I may have caught a glimpse of the culprit responsible for the thefts in school in the past few days."

"The thief that stole Mrs. McGuinness' Plate of Henry VIII?" Ms. Linney asked. "That could be the janitor."

"One question: If it was really a janitor here to do some clean up in the library, shouldn't he be pushing a vacuum cleaner instead of a cart?" Garfield asked.

"I don't think so." Ms. Linney nodded thoughtfully.

"Maybe the janitor is here to scrub a wall." Ms. Brennan, who was nearby and overheard their conversation, offered. "He doesn't necessary need to come here to vacuum the floor."

"Maybe." Garfield nodded. "I suppose it was just my imagination."

"Indeed." Ms. Brennan said. "Now, I'm sure things will work out in the end, Garfield. Nothing to worry."

"Right." Garfield said. "I ought to go back to find a book."

As the trio separated their own ways, Garfield's eyes narrowed. He was very sure he had heard the banging of wheels onto the concrete, and he was very sure that the janitor wouldn't be in the library to scrub a wall while it is still opened.

He returned to the far end of the library and looked around at the shelves full of books.

There was one particular bookshelf that seems to have narrow gaps separating it from the other bookshelves, and its background colour is dark brown rather than the cream-yellow wall colour shown in the back of the other bookshelves.

As he scanned the books on that bookshelf, Garfield's eyes caught onto one particular book.

"Secret of School Libraries." He thought to himself as he read the title of the book. "Hm."

He the reached over and picked up the book. However, nothing in the creation of mankind could prepare him for what happens next.

As he held onto the book, the bookshelf abruptly swing open and revealed what appeared to be a dark storage room behind!

"My word." Those are the only words that managed to escape Garfield's lips.

Inside the storage room, he saw Ms. Brennan seated on a chair, tied up and gagged. He also saw countless books and items that went missing over the days, including the grandfather clock that stood between the door entrances to the school auditorium.

"So this is the secret of the school library." Garfield thought to himself, just as he caught sight of a cart inside the room and two figures whose backs were facing him.

Then, he heard a gun being loaded and felt a cold metal poking him in the back of his head.

"Snooping around, eh?" The voice he now recognized as Ms. Brennan's impostor said as he raised his hands up.

* * *

**Uh oh. Looks like our protagonist has gotten himself into a jam.**

**What will happen next? Please read and review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Freed

In spite of being aware that someone has placed a gun by the back of his head, Garfield remained calm as he held his hands up.

"I see that I have just stumbled upon a secret that was never meant to be seen." He said nonchalantly. "A secret that explains those strings of thefts in the past few days at school."

"And unless you do as I say, you can be prepared to get blasted." Ms. Brennan's imposter said as the two men inside the room emerged.

The imposter spoke silently, and at her nodding, the two men grabbed Garfield by the arm each.

"Now, give that book to me, boy." Ms. Brennan's imposter said, her gun still aimed towards Garfield's head.

Garfield, aware of the danger he is facing as he faces the two thugs that just emerged from the secret room, silently handed the book to the imposter.

"Good boy." The imposter nodded before nodding at her two henchmen and added, "Now, get that snooper into the room, boys"

The imposter then pointed directly into Garfield's chest as she continued, "And don't even think about any tricks. One false move and you'll be having lead for lunch."

Garfield didn't say a word as the two henchmen grabbed him, took off his glasses, tied a gag around his eyes, replaced his glasses and then spin him around before pushing him into the secret room.

With Garfield disoriented from the spinning, the two henchmen were able to quickly exit the room, put the book back in where it was at and close the bookshelf that led to the secret room.

"Now let's move out of here, boys." The imposter said to her two henchmen.

"But how are we gonna do that, boss?" The first henchman asked.

"Don't worry." The imposter said. "You boys go ahead of me and I'll be right behind you."

The two henchmen nodded before proceeding to walk with the imposter following suit.

Ms. Linney arched her eyebrows when the two men and "Ms. Brennan" walked towards the front end of the library.

"The janitors noticed something wrong with the electrical wiring when trying to plug in the vacuum cleaner." Ms. Brennan said. "They're leading me to the electrical and mechanical room to show me the switch connected to that particular plug, in addition to suggesting me that I should shut down the power in that corner of the library so the wiring can be fixed. I'll be back in a minute."

"Uh...okay." Ms. Linney nodded, though she noticed that there was something weird about the tone in the librarian's voice.

After the librarian and the two "janitors" left, Ms. Linney turned towards the east side of the library.

"Garfield?" She called.

There was no response. The history teacher then decided to walk to the east side and look throughout the corridors.

It was also during the lookaround that Ms. Linney noticed that there was no vacuum cleaner as Ms. Brennan had claimed.

"There's something fishy going on here." She thought to herself before returning to the class and clapped her hands a couple times.

The students stopped what they were doing and turned to Ms. Linney.

"Have any of you see Garfield?" Ms. Linney asked the class.

The students looked around.

"I think he said that he went to go find a book at the back." Marilyn said. "But that was ten minutes ago, and it shouldn't take him too long to find a book."

"He isn't at the back." Ms. Linney said. "And Ms. Brennan said that the janitors noticed something wrong with the electrical wiring when they tried to plug in the vacuum cleaner, but while searching for Garfield, I didn't see a vacuum cleaner around."

"Uh oh." One of the other students remarked.

"Exactly." Ms. Linney said. "I hope that whatever I think happened didn't happen."

* * *

In that same time, it took a moment for Garfield to regain his balance after getting spinned around and pushed into the secret room.

As he stumbled around the room dizzily, Garfield heard the bookshelf closing and he knew that there's a good chance he's going to be locked inside the room with the real Ms. Brennan.

After removing his glasses and the gag that was covering his eyes before replacing his glasses, Garfield looked around as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

He was standing right beside Ms. Brennan, who was still tied up to a chair and gagged. Garfield wasted no time freeing Ms. Brennan.

"Ms. Brennan, are you alright?" Garfield asked as he removed the gag.

"I'm okay, thanks to you." Ms. Brennan said. "But it's no good if we can't figure a way out of this room."

"Right." Garfield nodded. "Say, how did you end up here, Ms. Brennan?"

"Oh, I caught those three crooks stealing furniture from a house in the neighbourhood I lived in." Ms. Brennan said. "However, I didn't realize that two of them were two of the school janitors, and together with the third, who later impersonated me, they followed me into the school library this early morning and confronted me alone here."

"Have they been stealing things in school before they did this to you?" Garfield asked.

"Yes." Ms. Brennan nodded as she was freed. "Those two janitors were responsible for the theft of the Plate of Henry VIII during last Wednesday's fire drill, and there's the grandfather clock taken from the main hallway."

"Right." Garfield said. "Now, we've got to figure a way out of here. I do know that there's got to be a switch somewhere at the back of the bookshelf that leads to this room, or those two janitors wouldn't have closed the bookshelf behind them earlier."

"Yes, there is." Ms. Brennan said. "We just need to find it in the dark without any source of light."

"If we pound on the back of the bookshelf, maybe someone nearby can hear us." Garfield suggested. "My history class is here working on a class project, so Ms. Linney should be able to hear us pounding."

"Good idea." Ms. Brennan nodded as they walked over to the bookshelf and started pounding on its back loudly.

* * *

Meanwhile, on First Avenue, a school bus carrying a Grade 11 gym class pulled up at the south side of the school. The class in question just returned from a golf course.

As the students disembark from the school bus, one of the students saw three people getting onto a moving van and did a double take.

"Ms. Brennan?" The student asked as she recognized the school librarian.

"What is it, Jill?" A second student asked.

"I saw Ms. Brennan and two men getting onto that moving van." The first student, addressed as Jill, replied.

"Ms. Brennan?" The second student asked. "I don't think the library's closed yet. Why is she leaving now?"

"I don't know, but those two men she's with looks quite suspicious if you ask me." Jill shrugged.

"I think it's a good idea if we get down the license plate number of the moving van." A third student suggested.

"I'm already on it." The second student says as he quickly writes down the license plate number.

* * *

Back in the library, Ms. Linney and the students were wondering what to do when they heard pounding coming from the far side of the library.

"Listen..." Ms. Linney said. "Did any of you hear pounding?"

"Yes, I do." One of the other students said. "It's coming from the far side over there."

"Better go check." Ms. Linney suggested. "In case it involves Garfield's disappearance. I'm going to need a few volunteers to come with me while the rest of the class, continue your research."

A few students nodded as they joined Ms. Linney and walked to the far side of the library.

They listened closely and carefully before one of them was able to pinpoint the source of the pounding.

"It's coming from this bookshelf, Ms. Linney." Marilyn said, gesturing towards the bookshelf in question.

"Alright." Ms. Linney said just as a muffled voice from the other side of the bookshelf spoke.

"Ms. Linney?" The voice, which sounded like Garfield, asked.

"Garfield?" Ms. Linney asked. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me." Garfield replied. "Along with the real Ms. Brennan."

"Ms. Brennan is in there?" Ms. Linney raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Ms. Brennan replied. "I'm here with one of your students. There's a secret room behind the bookshelf you are standing in front of, Sue. You've got to get us out of this room."

"But how?" Ms. Linney asked.

"Find a book titled 'Secret of School Libraries'." Garfield said. "When you lift the book out of its place, it activates a switch that swings the bookshelf open clockwise."

"Right, then." Ms. Linney nodded as she and the students began searching for the book in question.

In no time were they able to find the book in question and the bookshelf swung open, revealing Garfield and Ms. Brennan.

* * *

Garfield and Ms. Brennan wasted no time explaining everything that has happened to Ms. Linney and the class, who all then nodded.

"If it wasn't for Garfield here, I would've been trapped in that secret room forever." Ms. Brennan said as she rubbed Garfield's hair.

"You should be proud of yourself, Garfield." Ms. Linney smiled.

"Oh, it was nothing, Ms. Linney." Garfield said. "I just simply followed my instincts, and to top it all off, we've recovered the missing items that were stolen in school the past few days."

"Right." Ms. Brennan nodded. "Now, we're going to have to inform Mr. Page and the police about this."

* * *

A short while later, Ms. Brennan, Ms. Linney, Mr. Page, Garfield and three of the Grade 11 gym students were standing by the police cruisers that were stopped at the school side of First Avenue.

"I have to hand it to you, Mr. Wu." Lenny smiled after the group related the tale to the police. "As well as these three fast-thinking individuals for acting when they spotted the stolen moving van."

"You guys were investigating reports of a stolen moving van, sir?" Garfield asked.

"Yes." Lenny nodded. "Now, I won't dive into too much of the details, but Bytown Moving Inc. has reported to us the theft of one of their moving vans almost two weeks ago, and they alleged that one of their former employees was behind the theft."

"The moving van we saw had an Ontario license plate, Officer." Jill pointed out.

"Which means we're looking at someone who's not only wanted in the District, but also in Ontario." One of the constables said.

"Right." Lenny nodded before one of the other constables produced a poster. "And upon doing our little investigation, we concluded with this:"

The school faculty leaned over to look at the poster.

"That's one of the rats that tied me up and gagged me in the library!" Ms. Brennan recognized the man.

"You absolutely sure?" The constable asked.

"Positive." Ms. Brennan nodded. "I'll never forget this man's face."

"Neither do I, sir." Garfield added.

"Well, then." Lenny nodded. "Looks like we're going to be doing a little hunting for a moving van then."

"We just put the alert out for the area, Station Sergeant." One of the constables reported. "The precincts across the District, as well as the OPP detachments in the neighbouring municipalities, have responded to our alert."

"Excellant." Lenny said. "We'll have to get the hunt moving."

Then, turning to Garfield, Lenny added, "Mr. Wu, I'll like you to come along with us in case we spot the fugitives and for recognition. We'll go to the school library for the stolen items later."

"Sure thing, sir." Garfield nodded before turning to the school principal.

"In that case, you're excused for the rest of the school day, Mr. Wu." Principal Page said. "I'll send the notice to your afternoon classes informing them of your absence for police business."

"Thank you, Principal Page." Garfield nodded before looking at Ms. Linney, Ms. Brennan and the three students.

"You go get your men, Garfield!" Jill said as the other two students cheered on.

Garfield nodded as he tipped an imaginary hat before following Lenny onto the police cruiser.

* * *

**Please read and review!**


	9. The chase, the capture and a notebook

Chapter 9: The chase, the capture and a notebook

Garfield felt excited as the police cruiser sped down Riverside Drive, which together with River Road and the Vanier Parkway forms Highway 19, not long after the Uplands Airport Authority of the Metropolitan Police Force of the District of Carleton radioed in, alerting the others that the stolen moving van has been spotted speeding down River Road, en route to Manotick.

"Sounds like that I'll be skipping lunch." Garfield remarked after Lenny received the radio call.

"If we're quick enough, Mr. Wu, we should be able to head them off at the pass before they cross the provincial border into Leeds & Grenville County." Lenny said.

"I have radioed in backup from the Manotick and Osgoode Detachments, sir." The constable driving the cruiser reported. "The OPP Detachment in Kemptville has also been notified, in case the thieves managed to cross the provincial border south of Osgoode."

"Excellent." Lenny nodded. "Full speed ahead."

The constable nodded as he floored the accelerator and the cruiser continued to speed down Riverside Drive. It didn't take long for them to reach south of the airport and soon, the cruiser was speeding down River Road through Honey Gables.

Speeding down the two-lane rural highway, Garfield held onto his seat as the cruiser sped through the various turns along the highway.

As the drive went on deeper into rural Gloucester, Garfield became more anxious.

There hasn't been any signs of the stolen moving van for what felt like hours, and he began to wonder if the police in the Uplands Airport Authority made the wrong observation.

Before Garfield decided to open up, as the cruiser reached the intersection with Highway 8, which linked the south of March Township, through Manotick and Greely, to the provincial border at the southeast of the District whereupon the highway enters the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, he spotted a pair of slow-moving tail lights ahead.

Upon closer look, he noticed that the tail lights belonged to an auburn moving van with the logo of Bytown Moving Inc. on its rear loading door.

"That must be the stolen van the thieves are driving!" Garfield excitedly said. "I recognized the logo on the rear loading door."

"Plus the colour of the van ahead of us matches what our three witnesses described." Lenny added as he put down a pair of binoculars. "And the license plate on the van matches the one jot down by them."

Seeing that the van is continuing southbound on Highway 19, the cruiser sped up but didn't pull up to the side of the van. Garfield figured that the officers and the ones in the cruiser following them must be waiting for the backup coming from the Osgoode Detachment.

By that point, the officers in the second cruiser, who evidently has the same opinion on the moving van ahead of them, have reported that the Osgoode Detachment has deployed their squad cars onto Highway 19 and will be heading northbound to meet with them, with the intent of using the sandwich approach to force the stolen moving van off the road.

The driver of the moving van seemed to have noticed the police cruisers pursuing them, because as the cruisers crossed the intersection with Highway 8, the van sped up.

Eventually, five minutes later, the cops and Garfield saw the flashing lights of the squad car dispatched from the Osgoode Detachment in the distance, heading northbound.

With the stage set, the cruiser Garfield is on sped up and eventually reached the side of the moving van while the second cruiser behind them slowed down.

Rolling his window down, Lenny activated the loud speaker on the roof of the cruiser and spoke into the microphone attached to it.

"This is Station Sergeant Roger Lenny of the Metropolitan Police Force of the District of Carleton speaking." Lenny spoke as he glanced at the driver's view. "We have you surrounded. Pull over immediately and we can have this done the easy way."

Instead of obeying Lenny's command, the driver made the attempt to swerve towards the cruiser.

Having had anticipated the move, the constable driving the cruiser slammed on the brakes as the moving van swerved to the left.

The moving van must have swerved too far to the left, as its left wheels almost immediately hit the ditch on the left side of the road and the van toppled over.

During the course of the action, the cops and Garfield saw an object that looked like a gun flew out from the cab.

In an instant, the officers surrounded the downed moving van and had their guns drawn as they jumped off the cruisers.

Two of the fugitives emerged from the cab with their hands up, and as the police surrounded them with their guns drawn, the third one emerged from the ditch near the rear of the van and attempted to make a run for it.

It was Garfield who saw that third fugitive running towards the object that flew out from the cab as the van toppled over earlier, and it was Garfield who walked over to the object and stretched his leg out.

In an split-second, the fleeing fugitive tripped over Garfield's leg and fell to the ground as two of the officers rushed over with the remaining three handcuffing the other two fugitives. The object was then picked up by the second arresting officer.

Once the three fugitives were all handcuffed and brought together, Garfield turned to the officers and Lenny.

"You recognize these three, Mr. Wu?" Lenny asked.

Garfield nodded as he pointed at the leader, who he had just tripped.

"That woman is Ms. Brennan's impostor." He declared. "And her two accomplices were the ones that spun me around and threw me into the secret room in the library."

When it dawned onto Ms. Brennan's impostor that the boy she had caught snooping around earlier has become instrumental in her capture, she opened her mouth, about to say something, before changing her mind and stayed silent.

Papers soon identified the impostor as Brenda Oakley, a master of disguise wanted in Ontario, Manitoba and five states south of the border in the Midwest. She is also the cousin of another master of disguise that is currently wanted in seven states south of the border, who also has the alias of "The Actor".

Similarly, the papers identified her two accomplices as wanted criminals with a Canada-wide arrest warrant seeking the arrest of one of them.

"So am I supposed to make a statement about what these three crooks did to me?" Garfield asked.

"If you want." Lenny said. "The thing is, these three fugitives are already wanted by authorities for other crimes, so it probably wouldn't be necessary unless you're interested in having them charged with your assault and threatening your life."

"Ah, in that case, no thanks." Garfield waved his hand dismissively. "Instead, I believe Ms. Brennan will be interested in providing a statement, since she did get imprisoned by these three, plus she witnessed them doing thievery near her neighbourhood."

The three fugitives winced at the remark and looked at each other.

"You absolutely sure?" The first constable, who was holding the gun dropped from the moving van cab, asked.

"I'm sure." Garfield nodded. "Though I'm sure you officers will still need my contact information, should I be required to go to court to testify."

"Right, then." The second constable nodded.

* * *

After the police have hauled the three fugitives to custody, during which the officers have read them their rights, Lenny and a constable drove Garfield back to school.

It was almost 12:15 when they arrived at the front parking lot of Glebe Collegiate Institute.

Principal Page, Mrs. McGuiness, Ms. Linney, Ms. Brennan and a few students were at the front stairs and looked on as Garfield and the two cops got off the cruiser.

"I take it that you boys have captured the thieves responsible for the thefts." Mr. Page said, judging them from their bright facial expressions.

"Indeed we did." Lenny nodded before gesturing towards Garfield and added, "In fact, you have to hand it to Mr. Wu here for single handedly helped us capture their ring leader when she attempted to escape."

"Wow!" Mrs. McGuiness says as the students cheered. "Great job, Garfield my boy!"

"Ah...it was nothing, really." Garfield said as his cheeks burned. "If it weren't for Ms. Linney's scheduling for us to work on our history class project in the library, then I wouldn't have thought of checking out that particular bookshelf at the far end of the library."

"Anyways, now that we've got this mess sorted out, it's time we get the missing objects distributed and returned to their rightful owners." Mr. Page says.

"Right, as soon as I finished making my statement." Ms. Brennan says as the constable speaking to her took some notes.

"Speaking of which, are you sure you don't need to see the doctor, Kyla?" Mrs. McGuiness asked Ms. Brennan.

"I'm okay, really." Ms. Brennan says. "It's not like that I'm claustrophobic."

"True." Mr. Page says. "Though I'll still suggest that you see a doctor just to be safe, especially if you begin experiencing nightmares."

"I'll keep that in mind." Ms. Brennan nodded.

After Ms. Brennan made her statement to the police, everyone was ready to head into the school building with Lenny and the constable tagging along to do some sweeps for evidence in the school as they begin distributing the missing objects.

* * *

Mrs. McGuiness was delighted to have her classroom objects back, and Glenda, who had her locker broken into that past Friday, have recovered her rare vinyl disk.

When time came for the grandfather clock to be placed back into its spot, Jill noticed something peculiar inside the clock.

"Hey wait a minute, everyone..." She said. "There seems to be something stuck in the clock."

The people standing near the clock, including Garfield, looked towards where Jill was pointing at. The clock cover, which was behind the hour and minute hands, seemed to be holding back something small.

Swiftly, Garfield opened the glass cover, and after the two maintenance staff members gently stopped the clock and removed the antique hour and minute hands, Jill removed the clock cover, revealed a small notebook lodged between the cover and the gears.

Raising an eyebrow, Garfield reached over and pulled the notebook from its place in the clock. The cover page of the notebook immediately captured his attention.

"Property of Bruce Stevenson." He read.

Everyone witnessing the discovery, including Lenny, the constable, Mr. Page and Mrs. McGuiness, arched their eyebrows in surprise.

Looking on, everyone watched Garfield flip through the notebook pages.

Many of the writing in the pages has faded with age, and Garfield did his best to decipher the writing.

"Holy cow." He remarked. "I never thought Bruce Stevenson worths this much."

"Judging by how old and worn out the pages are, I'll say that he sure knows how to save money." Mr. Page said.

Garfield nodded thoughtfully as he continued flipping through the pages. It was then that one particular page caught his attention.

The entry on the page in question looked recent, and it has not faded like the entries on the other pages.

"'To whom it might concern: The attached key holds the key to the secret of my last will.'" Garfield read. "'The key to the secret of my last will rests in Safe Deposit Box number 256 at the Ottawa South branch of the Dominion Capital Bank, registered under the name of Brandon Sanders.'"

After reading the page, Garfield looked up and saw the surprised looks on the faces of everyone present.

"No doubt he didn't want the Ewells to find out about where he had hid the will." Garfield remarked as he handed the notebook to Lenny.

After scanning the words on the notebook page, Lenny looked up at Garfield and nodded.

"Mr. Wu, I believe we just stumbled upon the crucial piece of the puzzle behind Bruce Stevenson's last will." He said. "And I believe that a phone call to Flying Officer Nash is in order."

* * *

**One more chapter to go! Please read and review!**


	10. In the bank, the showdown and a happy ending

Chapter 10: In the bank, the showdown and a happy ending

_October 19, 1968_

The next several days were busy for Garfield with regards to his involvement in the mystery behind Bruce Stevenson's last will.

Shortly after he and his schoolmates made the surprising discovery that Monday early afternoon, Lenny spoke to Nash on the phone about the discovery and the two men made some arrangements.

The following day, Garfield was excused for the training night as he accompanied Nash to the Ottawa South branch of the Dominion Capital Bank with a court order, where they were then lead to a conference room where the bank president was expecting them.

"Bruce Stevenson's old friend Judge Adam Taylor explained everything to me." The president explained upon doing a quick read-through of the court order, referring to the judge who Nash has frequently worked with in the legal circles and was an old friend of the late entrepreneur. "The order wasn't really necessary, though for the sake of formality and legal reasons, it was good to have one issued by the judge. I'll send in Mr. Brannon, our trust officer."

After Mr. Brannon arrived and read through the notebook Garfield provided, he nodded and reckoned them to follow him to the safe.

The duo followed the two men to the safe, where Branson first took out the safe-renting record book and found the record for Brandon Sanders.

"It's safe to say that 'Brandon Sanders' and 'Bruce Stevenson' are one and the same." Branson remarked after the comparison, and the president, Nash and Garfield all nodded in agreement.

"Of course, you gentlemen do understand that the contents inside the deposit box can't be removed, right?" The president asked.

"We're just here to take a look at the will, gentlemen." Nash said. "Check and verify the date, witnesses and executor."

"Right, then." The president nodded with a smile.

Using the key from the notebook and the key kept by the bank, they were able to retrieve the deposit box that Stevenson had rented under the name of Brandon Sanders and carry it to a nearby private cubicle.

As the president opened the deposit box and removed the large envelop inside, Garfield held his breath in anticipation and anxiety.

The reason for his anxiety was because of Nash's story on Bruce Stevenson's known tendency to do things in a weird way. There was a good chance that whatever was in the envelop wasn't a will, but rather more directions leading to the will.

Nash cited the case of an eccentric Quebec-based businessman who recently passed on and his relatives ended up having to follow directions specified in his notes for his will and fortune, among them being the completion of a Chinese word puzzle.

"At least they found the fortune." Garfield remarked after the story.

The president then opened the envelop and took out the contents, revealing a large, bulky document.

"Is it a will?" Garfield finally asked as the president, Nash and Branson scanned the document.

"Indeed it is." The president spoke after scanning a few passages before passing it to Nash.

"The last will and testament of Bruce Henry Stevenson, dated February 29th, 1968." Nash added as he took the will and continued reading. "Which is later than the will the Ewells submitted for probate."

After scanning a few passages, Nash said, "Mr. Branson, or rather, Mr. Mackenzie, your bank has been named as the executor to the will."

"Ah, very good." Mr. Mackenzie, the bank president, smiled. "But I expect Mr. Ewell won't be happy to hear about this."

A quick glance at the final page of the will, produced three signatures: That of Bruce Stevenson's and the two witnesses.

However, both two witnesses passed away not long after Bruce himself passed on, hence the reason why the will never came to light.

Upon finishing examining the will, the bank offered Nash to help them handle the case, an offer which Nash happily accepted.

Due to the rather unusual circumstances behind the case, Nash decided that the first order of business was to request that the bank use a Photostat machine to produce copies of the will so he can then bring them back to his office, have them typed up and then examined, a request which the bank happily obliged.

The two days that followed were spent as Nash examined the typed-up copy of the will while Garfield went on with his usual daily business at school, awaiting the news on the will.

Then, during that Thursday's cadet training night, Garfield met with Nash, who revealed that upon extensive reviewing of the will, they can conclude that the will is legitimate enough to be submitted for probate and result in the annulment of the previous will.

Nash also confided that he will be notifying the relatives and friends named in the will, with the purpose of a Saturday gathering where they'll learn about the the contents of the new will.

He also invited Garfield to be there, an invitation which he happily accepted.

"I sure can't wait to be there when the Ewells receive the surprise of their lives." Garfield said. "Especially since word has it that Jason Ewell has been losing on the stock market lately."

"Yes indeed." Nash nodded. "He's been getting credit on a number of places based on the strength of inheritance, so with the latest news on his loses on the stock market, there's no doubt that he will be making efforts to speed up the settlement of the estate."

And that's how exactly that Saturday morning, Garfield found himself dressed formally with a suit and tie and seated in a meeting room at Nash's law firm, together with Nash and Mr. Branson from the bank.

Glancing at the clock, Garfield noted that it was 9:25.

"The relatives and friends should be arriving any moment now, sir." Garfield remarked.

"Yes indeed, and so are the Ewells." Nash nodded. "And if I'm not mistaken, they will be accompanied by a barrister. Once they hear about the discovery of a new will, no doubt they'll worry and be seeking the advice of one."

"Are you sure that everything in the will is legal and cannot be broken, sir?" Garfield asked.

"I've gone through everything." Nash replied. "Mr. Stevenson certainly knew the phraseology related to drawing up a will, and while I can't be sure about whether the will can or cannot be broken, as far as I know, everything's technically perfect. I've asked for input on the case from a handful of lawyer friends, and they also agreed with my analysis. Bruce Stevenson may have a peculiar way of doing things, but one thing for sure is that he's a very smart man."

"Which means that if the Ewells decides to contest this will, they'll have a lot of difficulty doing so." Garfield interjected.

As Nash nodded in agreement, Mr. Branson added, "And the bank will help you fight."

Nodding, Garfield turned and looked out the window and saw two elderly women with a pair of five-year old twins at the doorstep. "I think four of the relatives are here."

Opening the door and letting the four in, Garfield, Mr. Branson and Nash promptly introduced themselves.

The older of the two women introduced herself as Jessica Stephenson, one of Bruce Stevenson's cousins.

"This is my younger sister Margaret Stephenson." Jessica introduced her younger sister before turning to the twins and added, "And these are our grandnephew and grandniece Nicolas and Nicole Murdoch."

As it turned out, the Murdoch twins were orphaned three years prior when their parents were killed in a train accident during a trip to the UK. Their mother, whose name is Nancy and is an only child, likewise, was orphaned when her own parents were killed in the Halifax Explosion decades ago.

The twins had no close relatives other than the Stephenson sisters, so the elderly sisters brought them up. The family of four hailed from the village of Metcalfe, which is located in Osgoode Township in the District's southeast.

"Is it true that a new will by Cousin Bruce has been unearthed?" Margaret asked.

"You folks will soon find out." Garfield reassured them with a smile.

A few minutes later and another two of Bruce's other relatives and friends arrived at the law firm. The Stephenson sisters introduced them as Barbara and Anita Brooks, who were not related to Bruce Stevenson but were of great favourites of his.

"Uncle Bruce promised me that he'll have me set up for piano lessons at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto." Anita said. "I hope the new will will do just that for me, in addition to providing the needed money for me and Barbara as we struggled to make ends meet."

"And by the way, Mrs. Janet Wagner, who's the first cousin of Uncle Bruce's late wife and is living off a small pension with no telephone, can't make it to the meeting due to her hip injury." Barbara said.

"That's a shame." Nash said sympathetically. "I'm sure she'll be delighted to hear about what the new will provides for her."

Like the Stephenson sisters, the Brooks lived in Osgoode Township, though their residence is in Greely.

Another minute went by before two more relatives arrived. The Stephenson sisters introduced them as George and Henry Stevenson, who were Bruce's second cousins.

As it turned out, George and Henry Stevenson both had proposed to the Stephenson sisters years ago. George to Jessica, Henry to Margaret.

However, before the Stephenson sisters were prepared to say yes, tragedy struck the family when the Stephensons' older brother and his wife were killed in the Halifax Explosion, orphaning a young Nancy Stephenson.

As a result of the tragedy, the Stephensons and the Stevensons both decided to call off the marriage and focus on rearing Nancy.

The Stevensons lived in North Gower Township and relied on farming to get by. However, they weren't able to afford the cost of help and new farming equipment and the brothers have always longed to travel abroad.

"It's good to see that you gentlemen plan to see the world." Nash remarked.

Everyone named in the will are present, except for the Ewells. However, there wasn't a need to wait any longer, as a minute after Nash made the remark, Garfield saw the Ewells arriving at the doorway to the law firm.

As Nash have predicted, the Ewells were accompanied by a barrister, and the Ewells hastily nodded to the others in the room as they entered.

Garfield can sense the flames coming up as he watched Mrs. Ewell leading the way. She certainly looked just like her two unreasonable daughters, while by contrast, her husband certainly looked shy with a nervous manner. You sure can see hints of grey in his brown hair.

"Now I figure where did those sisters got their rude, spoiled personalities." Garfield thought to himself. "And I sure wonder what had possessed Mr. Ewell in marrying someone like Mrs. Ewell. One thing for sure: I probably don't envy him."

"What's the reason for us to be dragged here?" Mrs. Ewell asked sharply, addressing Nash as she spoke. "Have you got the audacity to claim that another will has been found?"

"What I've got here, Mrs. Ewell, is a will written by the late Bruce Stevenson dated this past late February." Nash replied evenly before gesturing towards Mr. Mackenzie and added, "And I'll like to introduce you all to Mr. James Branson, the trust officer of the Dominion Capital Bank branch in Ottawa South, which has been named as the executor of the Stevenson estate."

"This is preposterous!" Mrs. Ewell stormed as she slammed her hand down on the conference table. "Bruce Stevenson made only one will, in which my husband was named the executor and it left everything to my family!"

"Sounds more like a conspiracy to commit fraud to me, Mother." Rona said as she eyed Garfield.

Kellie didn't say a single word, though she glared at the other relatives and friends seated in the room.

Likewise, Mr. Ewell didn't spoke a single word, though he uneasily seated himself in a conference chair, right beside his barrister.

"Mrs. Ewell, if you could please sit down." Nash suggested. "That way, we can get started."

Reluctantly, Mrs. Ewell sat down, followed by her daughters.

Garfield folded his arms across his chest as Nash continued.

"Anyways, as I said before, a new will and testament by the late Bruce Henry Stevenson was found this past late February, ladies and gentlemen." He said. "It was stored in a safe deposit box in the Ottawa South branch of the Dominion Capital Bank. Due to its unusually long length, with your kind permission, I'll only read portions of the typed copy that has to do with the distribution of his property. But before we get started, I will like to ask Mr. Ewell how much value he has placed in the estate."

"Five hundred thousand dollars after taxes." The old man responded.

There was a whistle and Margaret gasped. "I never realize that Cousin Bruce worths this much!"

"Nor do I." Barbara agreed.

Nash nodded as he picked up a few pages and began reading in a clear voice.

"'I, Bruce Henry Stevenson, do make this my last will and testament, hereby having all former wills by me at any time made declared void.'" Nash read. "'I give and bequeath all my property, real and personal, as follows:'"

The relatives and friends all listen anxiously as Nash reached the first benefactor of the new will.

"'To my dear friends and neighbours Barbara and Anita Brooks:'" Nash read. "'Twenty percent of my estate, share and share alike.'"

The Brooks both gasped in excitement.

"This has got to be a dream!" Barbara exclaimed.

"I now can go to Toronto to attend the Royal Conservatory and pursue my dreams as a concert pianist!" Anita said.

"Hmph." Kellie snorted before saying maliciously to Anita. "It'll take more than fifty thousand dollars and talent for you to become one!"

"Silent!" Her father barked. "Let's not interrupt the proceedings and listen for what else this will provides!"

Kellie, who was glaring disdainfully at the Brooks, shut her mouth, but her mother raised from her seat.

"This is a total fraud!" Mrs. Ewell said sharply. "The Brooks aren't even relatives."

"Unless you have concrete proof that this is fraud, I don't see the need for you to keep interrupting." Nash said quietly before picking up the page and continued. "'To Janet Wagner, my late wife's cousin, in consideration for her kindness to me: A sum equal to ten percent of my estate.'"

"Oh, how wonderful." Anita smiled. "Now she can afford all the care she will need and have someone live with her to take care of her."

"You're kidding me." Rona said harshly. "That forgetful old lady gets fifty thousand dollars?"

Kellie turned to her mother and said, "Where was she when Cousin Bruce became ill?"

"We were the ones that took care of him!" Rona agreed. "Not her!"

"'To my second cousins George and Henry Stevenson: A sum equal to twenty percent of my estate, share and share alike.'" Nash read.

"Oh, this is unbelievable!" George smiled. "We always knew that Cousin Bruce was very kind. Now we can go on a trip like we always wanted to, Henry."

"Indeed." Henry nodded in agreement. "A trip to Europe and Australia would be amazing."

"'To my cousins Jessica and Margaret Stephenson: A sum equal to twenty percent of my estate, share and share alike.'" Nash read.

"How generous." Jessica smiled. "Now little Nick and Nicole can have the things they needed and wanted."

"It sure feels great to get a large weight like that off our chest." Margaret agreed.

"Aren't we mentioned in this new will?" Mrs. Ewell asked sharply, clearly fed up by the waiting.

"Yes. I was getting to that." Nash smiled. "'To my first cousin-once removed Jason Ewell, in consideration for the fun memories we shared: Ten thousand dollars. To Anita and Barbara Brooks-'"

"Hold it!" Mrs. Ewell exclaimed. "What about me and the girls?"

"I'm afraid he didn't leave any money to you." Nash said simply.

The girls shrieked.

"No!" Kellie shrieked. "This can't be true! What are we going to do with all those bills, Mother?"

"Oh, I'm going to have to go to work!" Rona broke down. "I can't bear the thought of that!"

When the room calmed down, Nash continued, "'To Anita and Barbara Brooks: My household furniture now in the possession of Mrs. Jason Ewell.'"

There were gasps of surprise as Mrs. Ewell half arose from her seat. There had been rumours around town that she had confiscated all of Bruce Stevenson's furniture after the entrepreneur was induced into making his home with the Ewells.

"What an insult!" Mrs. Ewell exclaimed. "Does Bruce Stevenson have the courage to hint that I took his furniture?"

"I'm sure it's safe to say that I have no idea what exactly was in his mind when he wrote the will, Mrs. Ewell." Nash said with a smile.

Anita got up from her seat.

"Barbara and I have enough furniture in our house right now, Mrs. Ewell." She said.

"So you can have that section of the will declared void, Mr. Nash." Barbara nodded. "We won't be taking any furniture from you, Mrs. Ewell."

After the contents of the will were went through, in addition to Stevenson leaving the remainder of his fortune to various charitable causes and scholarship funds, Nash concluded that the benefactors can draw at their inheritance all at once as a result of Bruce Stevenson keeping his assets at a liquid state.

However, it was clear that the Ewell sisters and their mother were not satisfied by how the new will distributed his estate.

"You engineered all of this, Garfield Wu!" Rona said accusingly to Garfield.

"Perhaps I did." Garfield replied evenly with his arms still folded. "I only played my role."

"That's it!" Mrs. Ewell thundered. "We're filing a claim to have this will declared void!"

Nash narrowed his eyes. "You can do that if you want, Mrs. Ewell. However, I have to warn you that it's going to be a waste of your time and money."

"If you don't want to accept Flying Officer Nash's judgement, you should consult your own barrister." Mr. Branson added.

Immediately, the Ewells' barrister took a typed copy of the will and carefully read through the contents. Then, he looked up at Mrs. Ewell.

"I'm afraid Flying Officer Nash is right, Mrs. Ewell." The barrister replied.

"Oh, is he?" Mrs. Ewell said viciously. "If that's all you know about law, then as of this moment, you're discharged, Mr. Gorman! We'll take this to the court and fight to the bitter end!"

With that remark, Mrs. Ewell got up from her seat and stormed her way to the door, followed closely by her daughters with Rona sending Garfield a glare and then Mr. Ewell.

After the Ewells were out of the office, Mr. Gorman picked up his briefcase as he, too, stood up.

"Well, I certainly can't say that I'm sorry to be taken off this case." He said as he placed both hands onto his briefcase and sighed. "However, I advise you all to be on your guard. That woman is certainly belligerent."

Once the barrister left, there was less strain in the room as the other relatives and friends celebrated the discovery on the new will and gave their thanks to Nash for his work.

"Don't give me all the credit." Nash said before gesturing towards Branson and Garfield. "These two gentlemen, especially Mr. Wu here, are the ones you should thank as well."

"Indeed." Mr. Branson nodded in agreement. "If it wasn't for Mr. Wu's actions at school, where he became curious about the string of thefts that occurred, he will never had thought of finding the notebook in the school's grandfather clock, and as a result of that, we wouldn't have been able to recover Mr. Stevenson's last will in the first place."

"Oh, young man." Margaret said as she ruffed Garfield's hair. "Your actions deserve a reward."

"Indeed." Anita agreed. "We all have you to thank for helping us finding the will that rightfully distributes Uncle Bruce's fortune to those in needed."

"Oh, it was nothing, really." Garfield smiled shyly as his cheeks burned while he rubbed Nick's hair. "I was simply following my instincts, plus all of this was a group effort, really."

It was at the tip of Garfield's tongue to add that he didn't really want a reward when Nash turned the conversation to a new channel.

"I have to warn you all about Mrs. Ewell." Nash said, his face expressions turning serious. "She certainly wouldn't give up the fortune without a fight, so until things settle down and the courts accepted this will as the final one, I advise you all to carry on with your lives as normal."

Everyone nodded in agreement, having had witnessed first hand just how belligerent Mrs. Ewell was.

"However." Nash continued, now breaking into a small smile. "If Mrs. Ewell and her daughters do drag this into court, I'll see to it that they end up fighting a battle they'll never forget."

Anita and Barbara have both considered telling Janet about the good news first thing when they return home, but upon listening to Nash's remarks, they decided against the move until things have settled down, especially in case the Ewells managed to upset the whole case.

* * *

_October 21, 1968_

That day, the main talk in school was about the recent court claim Mrs. Ewell have launched with regards the the Stevenson estate case.

As Nash have anticipated, Mrs. Ewell launched the appeal on the basis that the will Garfield had helped unearthed was a forged document. And it was one bitter court battle as Mrs. Ewell fought bitterly for the Stevenson estate.

As the weeks dragged on, Garfield felt a growing wave of suspense growing inside him.

* * *

_November 19, 1968_

That training night, Garfield ran into Nash and Lenny during break time.

"The suspense is just awful, sirs." He remarked. "I sure hope we will get the final word soon."

"Yes indeed." Nash nodded. "However, Mr. Ewell think that it's a losing battle. Have you heard about the family?"

"No, sir." Garfield arched his eyebrows. "What happened?"

"The family is practically bankrupt." Lenny replied. "Jason Ewell has been losing heavily on the stock market, and as a result of his failure to recover the Stevenson estate, the banks have reduced his credit."

"As a result of that, the Ewells have been forced to give up their manor and move into a small house on Alta Vista Drive." Nash added.

"Holy cow." Garfield remarked. "That's got to hurt, especially for Mrs. Ewell and the girls."

"Indeed, Mr. Wu." Nash nodded. "No doubt that it's a bitter pill to swallow, but with both girls now having to start working, I think it's going to change them for the better."

Garfield nodded thoughtfully at the remark.

* * *

_November 28, 1968_

That night, the cadet squadron training night went by as usual.

That is, until the closing parade when the officers made their announcements.

Nash, upon finishing his usual announcements on upcoming training, called Garfield out onto the front of the parade square.

Garfield, who was second-in-command of his flight, arched his eyebrows before immediately stood at attention, yelled, "Sir!", and marched his way to the front while most of the squadron's eyes were on him.

When Garfield arrived at the front of the parade square, Nash made his last announcement for the night.

"Earlier this afternoon, I have received good news from the Superior Court with regards to the last will of the late Bruce Stevenson, which I'm sure all of you know about." Nash began.

Everyone on parade, as well as the parents at the back and the officers at the front, all nodded. One thing to note was that Bruce Stevenson was also a member of the Ottawa Capital Optimist Club, who is the sponsor of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets 6th Wing.

As a matter a fact, the entrepreneur was instrumental in the establishment of the squadron at Uplands and was well known and respected and liked by the air cadet community in Ottawa.

In addition, many in the squadron, or rather, the wing, heard about the Ewells treatment of Bruce Stevenson and the other relatives and friends planning to file a claim that the late entrepreneur had wrote another will after the presented will awarded all of his fortune to the Ewells.

"Anyways, the good news is that the court has agreed to have that last will declared void." Nash continued. "And Sergeant Garfield Wu here was instrumental in unearthing the will that rightfully distributed the Bruce Stevenson estate and fortune to his more deserving friends and relatives, and it was the will he helped unearth that was accepted by the court for probate."

Everyone cheered upon receiving the news, and Garfield could hardly believe the news as the officers walked to him and gave him their praises.

Then, the cadet squadron commander WO1 Jerry Lacombe walked over to Garfield and shook his hand.

"Way to go, Wu." He spoke with a smile.

"Thank you, chief." Garfield nodded as he smiled back.

* * *

_November 29, 1968_

That day, as the news of the Ewells losing the court battle spread around the school and the relatives and friends being notified of the news, Garfield found himself becoming a celebrity in school amongst the students.

At home, his family praised him for his actions and Dave also slapped his back gently in approval.

Of course, Garfield had taken to give Jill the credit for pointing out the peculiarity in the grandfather clock that led them to the notebook, though the juniors didn't mind him taking the credit.

After all, it was his curiosity on the string of thefts in school and the unusual bookshelf in the library that got the ball rolling on the discovery of Stevenson's new will in the first place.

During the lunch period, Garfield does his walk around the school block as usual after he finished his lunch.

As he walked by the main entrance, he paused to take a look at the grandfather clock.

Watching the pendulum swinging back and forth, Garfield compared the time displayed on the clock to that on his watch.

Nodding, Garfield looked back at the clock face.

Eyeing the spot where Jill had spotted the notebook, Garfield nodded.

"Bruce Stevenson sure picked a weird spot to hide his notebook." He thought to himself. "No doubt he must've owned this clock before donating it to the school."

He then remembered the school principal mentioning that the late entrepreneur had made a trip to the school a week before his death, and he had no trouble picturing the man secretly hiding his notebook, with the safe deposit key attached, into the grandfather clock.

Noting the time, Garfield nodded at the clock again before turning towards the stairwell and made his way up the stairs.

The scene then shifts to the back of the grandfather clock, where it then reveals the name of the maker of the grandfather clock.

Garfield & Stephenson Clocks Ltd., 1895.

* * *

**And so concludes the first story of Garfield Stephenson Wu, folks!**

**The adventures of Garfield Stephenson Wu continues in _D4 Scooby-Doo! A Phantom at the Ottawa SuperEX!_**

**Please read and review!**


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